Chester L. Barrett, a 55-year resident of Pacific Palisades, passed away April 13 at UCLA-Santa Monica Hospital of congestive heart failure. He had just celebrated his 89th birthday in February. Chet was born in Los Angeles to Tom and Hilda Barrett on February 26, 1923. His family moved to Venice and Santa Monica when he was a young child. When he was 11, he was in a bad bicycle accident that required a long recovery and forced him to learn to walk again. He became involved in the Boy Scouts and joined a paddleboard club at the beach. He loved working on cars and was proud of his Graham roadster. After Chet graduated from Santa Monica High in 1942, he enlisted in the Marines, where he obtained the rank of corporal. He served in the Pacific at Tinian, Iheya Shima, Okinawa and Saipan, where he received a Purple Heart. He was also stationed in the Hawaiian Islands and New Zealand. Chet was a proud Marine and spoke often of his buddies, especially Bill Holdeman, who became a life-long friend; they met in motor transport school. Chet was a rifleman and earned metals in marksmanship, he assisted the radioman, did guard duty and drove transport vehicles. He remembered many experiences, some good and some bad, and you could spend hours listening to him talk about them. Chet was honorably discharged in January 1946. That summer he went to a party at the beach on a blind date and met Mary Elizabeth Arnold. They were engaged and married within six weeks, on September 14, and were married for 60 years. They had two sons, Chester (1947) and Christopher (1949), and a daughter, Marsha (1954). The Barretts moved to Pacific Palisades in December 1957. Mary and Chet were very active with First Methodist Church of Santa Monica; Chet was an usher, and they bowled in a league and square-danced with the Swinging Saints. In 1984, they purchased a Laze Daze motor home and traveled around the country. Chet was also a member of the Santa Monica YMCA’s Men Club (he especially enjoyed selling Christmas trees every year) and was active in the Kiwanis Club, Optimist Club and the California Moving and Storage Association. Tom and Hilda Barrett had opened Bay Cities Van & Storage in 1930. Chet took over the family business after their deaths, until 1994, when he retired. He loved to share stories of his experiences and the people he had met, like James Arness. After his retirement you could find him at the Palisades Garden Caf’, having coffee with his buddies. He really missed Jimmy, Gina and the guys when he couldn’t go any longer. Chet was preceded in death by his loving wife, Mary, in 2007. He is survived by his daughter Marsha of Pacific Palisades; his sons, Chester (wife Karin) of Santa Monica and Christopher (wife Kathy) of El Segundo; four grandchildren (Bret, Gina, Kjerstin and Trevor) and five great-grandchildren (Aiden, Brady, Gavin, Kaya and Sean). A memorial will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 6 at the Aldersgate Retreat Center, 925 Haverford Ave. In lieu of flowers, Chet requested that donations be made in his name to the Santa Monica Y’s Men Club c/o Marsha Barrett.
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