Charles P. Barrett (1935–2016)

Born July 13, 1935, in Larksville, he was the son of the late James and Emma Nicolodi Barrett. He was a graduate of Larksville High School, Class of 1953, a graduate of King's College, Wilkes Barre, a Fellow at Notre Dame University, Indiana, and a graduate of University of Maryland, Baltimore, where he earned his doctorate in anatomy. He was a member of All Saints Parish, of Plymouth, and St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church, Maryland. He was also a U.S. Army veteran. Prior to his retirement, Charles had been employed as an adjunct professor at the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine, where he taught anatomy. Throughout his life, Charles had a great appreciation for the arts. He greatly enjoyed drawing and spent much of his time reading. He also loved to travel. His greatest joy was spending time with his loving family and was delighted at the arrival of his two great-grandchildren. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his children, Lisa and Mark; and brother, James.

Barrett earned his BS degree in Biology from King’s College in 1957 and his PhD in Anatomy from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1969. From 1959 to 1968 he held several positions at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland including Chief, Cell Biology Section, Pathology Branch, Directorate of Medical Research. Here he did research for the United States Army. His appointments at University Of Maryland School Of Medicine (UMB) were in the then Department of Anatomy (now Anatomy and Neurobiology), first as an Instructor in 1968, then rising to Associate Professor in 1977. At UMB his research interests were on the regeneration of damaged central neurons with emphasis on the spinal cord. As the SOM curriculum was being revamped into its current “block” format, Dr. Barrett worked closely under Course Director Dr. Rosemary Rees to reshape the Anatomy Course for the new Freshman Block. The newly revamped course, Human Structure and Development, integrated the disciplines of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology into a single 10-week course. He served as Course Master of the new block course from 1993-1998, implementing several innovations to the course including co-writing the dissection guide that was used in the gross anatomy lab. He retired in 2003, but his love of teaching kept him involved with the University as an Adjunct faculty member. He continued to contribute to the improve- ment of the Structure and Development course, helping revise the dissector yearly and implementing new learning modalities to aid the students in mastering the course material. Dr. Barrett was artistically talented in photography, drawing, and painting. He wrote poetry and traveled widely, especially to China. As Dr. Michael T. Shipley, Chairman of Anatomy and Neurobiology, noted, “He was a sweet, generous and kind-hearted man who was well liked by the students, faculty and staff.