Mr. Lewis "Bud" Barrett

Memorial services for Mr. Lewis "Bud Barrett, 87, of Avinger will be 2:00 p.m. Friday, April 1, 2011 at Mims Chapel United Methodist Church under the direction of Haggard Funeral Home with Rev. Richard Dowden officiating.
Mr. Barrett passed away Monday, March 21, 2011 in Longview.
Mr. Barrett was born in Deport, Texas on June 19, 1923. His family followed the oil boom in 1936 to Talco, Texas where Bud attended high school, played football, ran track and sometimes studied. He loved hunting and fishing in the Sulfur River bottom.

Enlisting in the Navy in 1941, he started his military career which included fighting three wars, traveling throughout the world and being commissioned as a Naval Officer.

Along the way he married Olga Mae Lindsey and had two wonderful children, Linda and Sam. While in the Navy, he received bachelor and master degrees in electrical engineering and mathematics. Bud embarked on his teaching career in 1970, first at the University of North Texas where he obtained his doctorate in mathematics. He then returned to East Texas to teach math and serve as the principal at Avinger High School. He loved the community and the East Texas Piney Woods. At the age of seventy he took up and became an avid wind surfer. For the next fifteen years, his sails crisscrossed the waters of the Lake ‘o the Pines, Galveston Island and Hawaii. He also enjoyed water skiing with his grandchildren and telling stories to his great grandchildren. His religion and church were a very important part of his life. Bud was a lay Methodist minister and sang in the church choir.

He is survived by his wife Olga Barrett of Avinger, children Linda Gale Garrison of Alvin, Texas, and Samuel Lewis Barrett of Ft. Worth, Texas; a sister, Ima Jo Allen of Prosper, Texas; grandchildren, Charles Garrison, Christopher Garrison, Caren Hoffman, and Carla Wilson; and by nine great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to either the Mims Chapel United Methodist Church, 13714 FM 729, Avinger, TX 75630 or Heart's Way Hospice of Northeast Texas, 1306 Pine Tree Rd., Longview, TX75604.