E. LeVERL BARRETT

E. LeVerl Barrett 5/8/1916 ~ 8/27/2009 Elmer LeVerl Barrett, physician, died at home Thursday, August 27, at the age of 93, one week after his 68th wedding anniversary. He grew up in Ogden, where, as a son with four sisters and possessed of energy and a keen mind, he was lucky to be a kid in a more permissible age. One favorite story concerns rearranging the connection between the keys and the pipes on the church organ. Another involves concocting nitroglycerine in the basement of the family home. He took up skiing before there were lifts or tows when the skis were wooden and seven feet long. He was an Eagle Scout, and served in the British mission. He graduated from the University of Utah and was a member of the notorious Sigma Nu fraternity. In those days his fraternity brothers indulged in "telescopic surveillance" of the neighboring Pi Phi house (where his future wife was president.) He married Kathryn Smith August 21, 1941 in the Salt Lake Temple. He began medical school at the University of Utah when it was a two-year school and received his diploma at Washington University in St. Louis. He returned to Salt Lake City for his residency. He was proud that as a medical resident at the University of Utah, he introduced Max Wintrobe's department of medicine to the joys of skiing. The entire department sported winter sunburns. Dr. Barrett practiced internal medicine in an era when doctors took phone calls and made house calls. His medical training coincided with the introduction of antibiotics, when, as he said, "people who used to die lived." He served as a captain in the Army Medical Corps during the Korean War. Before the purchase of the beloved cabin at Alta he was with his family at Mirror Lake or Tanner's Flat. He loved the outdoors. He was famous for his hikes that started on a trail and ended where there wasn't a trail. Many Memorial Day weekends were spent in southern Utah on rutted or precipitous dirt roads. Summer vacations were long car trips. We especially remember the one to the Canadian Rockies and will always remember him telling us to "look at the scenery." He had a wonderful sense of humor that was a great bond between him and our mother. Dad bequeathed to his family his love of the outdoors, his interest in continued learning, and his appreciation of a good tomato. He was uncomplaining in his afflictions. He is survived by his wife, Kathryn Smith Barrett; sisters; Fae Demarest, Marjorie Allen and Jackie Tadje; and his five children; Stephen and Daryl Barrett, Bruce and Kaye Barrett, Kathleen and Charles Petty, Lane and Kathleen Barrett, and Shelley and Paul Henriod; 21 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his beloved grand-daughter, Jane Barrett and his sister, Lorraine Feinauer. We extend special thanks to the doctors and staff at the University Medical Center, Christus St. Joseph Villa and especially to Beau Chaine for compassionate care. Graveside services will be held Monday, August 31, 2009 at Wasatch Memorial Lawn at 11:00 a.m. If desired, remembrances can be sent in Verl's name to the Jane Barrett Memorial Scholarship for Women in Architecture c/o The Development Office, University of Utah, 540 Arapeen Dr. Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9902.