Emmett Mearl Barton

Emmett was born on December 16, 1930, to Silas and Lavida Barton in Minam at the confluence of the Wallowa and Minam rivers in northeastern Oregon. Challenges faced while growing up impoverished with eight siblings in rural America taught him the value of hard work and resilience. Despite his humble beginnings, he was upbeat and positive and found plenty of opportunities to show his quick wit and dry sense of humor. Soft-spoken, but not shy, everyone who knew Emmett really did love him; he had an abundance of friends.

After finishing high school, Emmett enlisted in the United States Air Force and served as an air cargo transporter. His basic training was in San Antonio, Texas, where he fondly remembers an NCO club at which he saw many country and western singers perform, “when he had enough money for a ticket.” The MPs would often have to kick him and his friends out after the show was over as they didn’t want the party to end. The military afforded him the opportunity to travel throughout his career as he was stationed in Hawaii, Massachusetts, Delaware, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Florida, Alaska, Rhein-Main Air Force Base in Germany, and the Marshall Islands. He served in Vietnam and then retired in Colorado Springs as a Master Sergent after 22 years of service. This retirement was the first of several as Emmett would later retire after 21 years of civil service at Fort Carson. There he first worked maintaining the grounds of the base’s golf course, then moved into its hospital as a signage specialist. He retired for the third and final time from Avis as a driver for nearly 20 years. This active lifestyle made it possible for him to be able to work into his early eighties. He truly enjoyed being out and about, going on drives to see the beautiful scenery of Colorado.

Emmett met his future wife, Mary Ann (Beaumaster), when he was stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage where she was responsible for distributing weather forecasts via teletype to military aircraft to ensure safe flights throughout Alaska. Emmett and Mary reached their 50th wedding anniversary three weeks before her death in 2017. Emmett cherished his only child, Dr. Melissa Barton, who is an emergency physician in Michigan. He loved country and western music (think Willie’s Roadhouse), country and swing dancing, golf, crossword puzzles, peanut M&Ms, map reading, and nature. He was an avid recycler and would make regular pick-ups of others’ recycling. Emmett cared about the environment, water usage, and forestry and even knew what Amazon rainforest plants produced medicines used here in the United States.

Emmett was preceded in death by three brothers (Arnold, Russell, and Virgil) and three sisters (Eileen, Vera Roop, and Shirley Crabb). Emmett is survived by his daughter, two sisters (Elvira Sims of Walla Walla, Washington and Clarice Kiesecker of Enterprise, Oregon) nieces, nephews, and his beloved cat with nine lives, Kiki.

A visitation will be held at Swan-Law Funeral Home on Thursday, November 7, at 3:30 pm with the memorial service starting promptly at 4:30 pm with rendering of military honors. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Ocean Cleanup, Rainforest Foundation US, the Wallowa History Center, or to an animal shelter of your choice.