William Ralph Barret

BARRET, William Ralph, 74, of Mechanicsville, Virginia, peacefully passed away at home surrounded by family on Wednesday, October 10, 2018. Ralph was born Aug. 14th, 1944 in Atlanta, GA and raised in Richmond, VA. He is survived by his loving wife of 51 years, Marsha Stanfield Barret; a daughter, Dawn Dill (Drew) of Beaverdam; son, Matt Barret (Christie) of Mechanicsville; son, Clay Barret (Kathryn) of Mechanicsville; grandchildren, Dara (Hunter), Megan (Jimmy), Andrea, Rachel, Andrew, Thomas, Olivia, and Madeline; great-grandchildren, Cate, Ella, James Barret, and Rose. He is also survived by sister, Bette Jean Chick; sister Linda-Lee Bowman (Paul); brother, John Barret (Toni). He was preceded in death by a daughter “baby girl Barret”; father, William P. Barret; and his mother, Mildred M. Barret. Ralph’s family moved to Culpeper, VA in 1961, where he graduated from Culpeper HS in 1962. He went to work at VDOT after high school and eventually joined the DC Air National Guard. In 1967, he married his sweetheart, Marsha. They moved to Myrtle Beach Air Force Base after being activated during the Vietnam War. In 1968, he was deployed with the 37th TFW USAF to Phu Cat AFB in Vietnam where he served a 1-year tour of duty as an aircraft mechanic working on the F-100 Super Sabre. Upon his return to Virginia in 1969, he was welcomed home by family and a baby girl (Dawn). He then returned to VDOT and resumed his education at RPI (VCU) where he graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering in 1972. He retired from VDOT as the Rail Program Manager in 2011 with 46 years of service. Ralph loved to spend time working on, building, and driving antique cars and old school hotrods. He could often be found in his garage working on an old car project. His strong love for classic cars provided a lifetime of fun. His family always came first, and many times pushed old car projects to the side. He loved to spend time with his children and grandchildren. He was a great, loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, neighbor and friend who was loved dearly by all that knew him.  He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. The family will receive friends from 2 pm to 4 pm and 6 pm to 8 pm on Monday, October 15, 2018 at Monaghan Funeral Home, 7300 Creighton Parkway, Mechanicsville VA, 23111. A Graveside Service will be held at Hanover Memorial Park 4447 Mechanicsville Turnpike, Mechanicsville, VA at 11 am, Tuesday, October 16, 2018. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

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