He was born in Downey, Idaho on March 17, 1935 to his parents Alice Lucretia Bright and Wesley Howard Barnes. He lived in many places during his youth, including California and Nevada. After four years in the United States Air Force, he returned to Idaho to study Engineering at Idaho State University. He was an active member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity and also met the love of his life, Karen Ione Bowden during his college years. They were married on June 30, 1961 in Pocatello, Idaho. Later, on July 25, 1972, they along with their children, were sealed for time and all eternity in the Idaho Falls Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Keith was always mechanically inclined. He never needed to hire a plumber, electrician or carpenter. He made his children the envy of their friends because he was always able to run a telephone line and cable line to their rooms. He loved having the latest and greatest technology and also new cars. His career was always closely tied to the telephone industry. Two major claims to fame were, that he ran telephone lines to connect Delta, UT to the rest of the world, and also testified before Congress regarding the breakup of AT&T (Ma Bell monopoly.) In Denver, he worked for Mountain Bell and Seattle was GTE. Later in San Francisco, Colorado Springs and Austin were spent using his knowledge as a consultant. He retired officially in 2005, but for many years he continued to work on a contract basis.
Keith loved Amusement Parks, going to movies, road trips and camping. He took his family to every amusement park wherever they lived or vacationed. His favorite was always Lagoon in Utah (especially when it was a Bowden family reunion) and his all-time favorite ride was always the Log Flume. You could always count on him for a movie review because he literally watched every movie in the theaters. Family vacations were by car. Keith loved driving all over and would often leave and drive all night to make it easier on his children. It was his singing show tunes, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly or anything by Hank Williams Jr. that kept him awake through the whole night. He made sure his family spent their vacations in Idaho strengthening relationships with cousins, aunts and uncles. He loved camping. Summer weekends in Washington and California meant sleeping in tents and boating in the blow up raft. He loved chasing his savage tan and made sure family trips included proximity to swimming pools, rivers, lakes or the ocean. His last house was his favorite because he finally had a pool in his own backyard.
He is preceded in death by his mother, Alice Goodenough, father, Wesley Barnes, brother, Charles Dean Bright, and his sister, Colleen Hess. He leaves behind his wife of 58 years; Karen Ione Bowden, his son Brian Keith Barnes (Raquel) and his daughter Kareena Lee Mullens (Robert), along with grandchildren Alex, Brianna, Chris, David, Quentin, Alice and Joely and great- grandchildren Angelina, Junior, and Michael. He has many beloved nieces and nephews and never counted his wife’s brothers, sisters or parents as in-laws, they were simply his family.
Memorial services will be held at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, July 31, 2019, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 8140 Racine Trail, Austin, Texas 78717.
