Ethel Halsey Barrett

1925 - 2021

BARRETT, Ethel Halsey, 95, passed away quietly on January 7, 2021, after several years of declining health. She was born in The Bronx, N.Y., on October 14, 1925, and moved to Rapidan, Va., as a teenager. She studied at Longwood College and Richmond Professional Institute-now VCU. She took a job as a medical technologist at UVA hospital and met the love of her life, Frank Barrett, on her first day in Charlottesville. They were married on April 5, 1951 at the UVA Chapel. Fulfilling Frank's military obligations, they moved to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, then to Sampson Air Force Base in Geneva, N.Y., and finally to Richmond, Va., where Frank served as a staff physician at McGuire VA Hospital for his entire career. Ethel was a very devoted homemaker, creating a loving and nurturing home for her family. She was a very active member of Bon Air Presbyterian Church, where she served on various committees, was a devoted Sunday school teacher for many years and served as church librarian for decades! In addition, she served her community as a volunteer at the Thompson Middle School library. Ethel was predeceased by her parents, Joseph Jackson Halsey and Ethel Corbett Halsey; her loving husband, Francis E. Barrett, M.D.; and her sister, Anne Halsey Coleman of Rapidan. She is survived by her children, Chuck Barrett and wife, Janet, of Richmond, Va. and Susan Cramer and husband, Bart, of Richmond, Va.; grandsons, Alex Barrett and Michael Barrett of Richmond, Va.; niece, Nancy Knewstep and husband, Alan, of Rapidan, Va.; and nephew, Edmund Coleman Jr. and wife, Karen, of East Bend, N.C. The family would like to extend special thanks to the amazing Amada Senior Care caregivers and the loving care they provided Ethel in her last years, as well as to the staff at the Crossings at Bon Air and James River Hospice. Her remains will be interred in the Memorial Garden at Bon Air Presbyterian Church in a private ceremony. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Bon Air Presbyterian Church Endowment Fund would be welcomed. She will be fondly remembered for her life of service, gentle nature and loving kindness.