Greg Barrett

Barrett, Greg was born November 21, 1947 to Wilfred and Margaret (Moran) Barrett in Minneapolis, MN the seventh of eleven children. Raised on the Richfield family farm, Greg was a pioneer recipient of services for people with mental retardation. He attended public school in Richfield, not common in the 1950s, and, when the family moved to their Lakeville farm in the early 1960s, Greg graduated high school there, earning blue ribbons in track and field in Special Olympics. He received employment training in Sheltered Workshops -- he called his training "nuts & bolts"which helped him get jobs at area hotels and at burger restaurants running the French fryers. Because of his parents' sustained advocacy for including people with disabilities in everybody's everyday life, Greg was one of the first to move into a community-based group home providing long-term residential services in 1970. He lived in several South St. Paul locations and then in 1993 moved into the intentional community of Community Homestead in Osceola. WI. As he aged and developed a series of medical conditions, he moved to an adult home setting in St. Croix Falls, where he died peacefully on May 18, 2019. Greg loved dogs and cats, particularly his 'Lassie-dog' named Nippy. He was an avid sports fan who always rooted for the Minnesota Twins baseball team. He took pride in gardening and farming and was known to be able to plant a row of potatoes in record time. Greg, a man of few words, was especially kind-hearted, a gentle man who will be missed by his family and friends. Greg is survived by his brothers, Mike, Johnny, Pat and George, and his sisters Rosemary, Elise and Therese and more than 60 extended family members. His funeral service was held May 24, 2019 at the Ascension Episcopal Church in Stillwater, MN with interment was at Resurrection Cemetery, Mendota Heights, MN. Arrangements were with Grandstrand Funeral Home. grandstrandfh.com

Published on May 26, 2019