Kenneth Paul Barrett, age 88 passed away on May 23, 2011 at his home in Helena.<\/p>\n
Kenneth was born on April 16, 1923 in Missoula, Montana. He was the sixth child of Jesse and Alice Barrett. He grew up on the family farm in the small community of Belknap, MT, where he worked at the store and post office owned by his father. He worked on the farm milking cows, hauling hay, and mending fences and when the chores were completed he hunted and fished, and rode his horse. And in fact, he met a beautiful girl who lived fifteen miles west in the town of Trout Creek named Vola Potter. He frequently drove there to dance with and date the girl who would become his wife.<\/p>\n
On June 3, 1944, a year after graduating from Thompson Falls High School, Kenneth and his high school sweetheart were married in Missoula, MT. In 1954 they were sealed together for time and all eternity in the Idaho Falls Temple together with their five sons. Kenneth and Vola raised an all-boy family: Roger and Gregory live in Idaho Falls, Idaho; Dwight lives in Salt Lake City, Utah; Brett resides in Provo, Utah and Chet in San Diego, California. They have 29 grandchildren, and 55 great grandchildren. He is survived by an older sister, Della Cook from Hot Springs, Montana.<\/p>\n
After marriage, Kenneth and Vola moved to Vancouver, WA, and spent a year working in the shipyards in behalf of the war. They relocated back to Thompson Falls where Kenneth worked for the soil conservation service and in the logging industry.<\/p>\n
In 1951 he moved to Butte, MT where he was employed by the BA&P Railroad and shortly thereafter became a general contractor and homebuilder. When the economy worsened, he relocated to Helena in 1962 where he resided the remainder of his years.<\/p>\n
In Helena, Kenneth designed and built numerous beautiful homes, many of which Vola and he lived in. He became a Master electrician, plumber, and heating specialist. He was a farmer, mechanic, millwright, switchman, landlord, and a business entrepreneur. Free enterprising was in his blood. He loved a \u201cgood deal\u201d and was always searching for ways to increase and better himself and his family. He taught numerous of sons the building business and together they helped one another build dozens of new homes. He was a role model in so many ways.<\/p>\n
Kenneth was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was an ordained Elder, Seventy, and High Priest; he served as Sunday School President, Elders\u2019 Quorum President, High Priest Group Leader, as President of Seventy, and a Stake Missionary. He was actively involved in conservative politics. If there was laughter among a group of people, Kenneth was probably the initiator of it with a one liner of sorts or teasing someone. Kenneth was a friend to everyone and loved by all. Heaven will enjoy immensely this dear husband and father and friend.<\/p>\n
A viewing will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 28, 2011 in the Relief Society Room of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1610 6th Ave., with a funeral scheduled for 11 a.m. at the church. Burial will be held at Forestvale Cemetery. A dinner will follow the burial at the church. To offer condolences to the family or share a memory of Kenneth, please visit: www.retzfuneralhome.com.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/1167607.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","family_email":"","family_first_name":"","family_last_name":"","event_title5":"","event_date5":"","start_time5":"","end_time5":"","location5":"","address5":"","city5":"","state5":"","zipcode5":"","event_title6":"","event_date":"","start_time6":"","end_time6":"","location6":"","address6":"","city6":"","state6":"","zipcode6":"","event_title7":"","event_date7":"","start_time7":"","end_time7":"","location7":"","address7":"","city7":"","state7":"","zipcode7":"","event_title8":"","event_date8":"","start_time8":"","end_time8":"","location8":"","address8":"","city8":"","state8":"","zipcode8":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/23328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}