Gary A. Barrett

Gary Allen Barrett passed away on October 24, 2021 at his home. He was 66 years old. Gary was born August 19, 1955 in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania to Harry and Margaret (Oehlsen) Barrett. He is survived by his sisters: Lori Barrett of Urbandale, Marianne Jones, and Carol Barrett, both of Des Moines, as well as many nieces, nephews, and their children. He would also consider all of their dogs and cats as family. Gary was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Harry Barrett, Jr.

Gary had done some extraordinary things in his life. As a child, Gary was inspired by a neighbor who was a popular personality on KIOA, and would hang out at the local radio stations. Instead of kicking out a pesky kid, they all welcomed him and taught him the business. He became lifelong friends with many from those early years. As a teenager, Gary used the knowledge of electronics learned from his father to build a mail order radio station. He registered with the FCC and his station was designated KGAB. It only reached a small area of perhaps a mile or two, but many neighbors became regular listeners. He ran KGAB with the professionalism he was taught at the real stations and found his niche. He bought all the hit records of the day, got donations of extras and oldies from his friends at the local stations, and built an impressive music collection. He won an old Thunderbird car filled with records from a contest at one local station even though he wasn’t even old enough to drive yet.

He attended Des Moines Tech High School and became an integral anchor and journalist at the local public radio station KDPS, which was housed on campus as part of his curriculum. During those years he honed his skills and established a true radio personality.

As an adult he worked at many radio stations for most of his career. He was a statehouse reporter at KRNT radio, focusing on political news. He was involved with the Iowa Broadcast News Association where he won several awards over time. He also helped establish and was Program Director for Policast.com during the early years of internet streaming. During his career as a news anchor for WHO Radio, he interviewed all the presidents from Reagan to Obama. He gained the respect of many in the national and local political realms, one of them being former President George W. Bush, who gave him a special nickname (“Big Guy”). Gary would proudly tell us you only got a nickname from the President if he liked you.

He gained the respect of the Iowa local political powers as well. Gary got to know former Governor Robert Ray during his work at KRNT, and while at WHO, he hosted a radio show where Governor Branstad was a weekly guest. During a prior hospital stay, the nurses posted get well cards he had received from Gov. Ray and Gov. Branstad on his bulletin board.

Gary was always helping out the newcomers in the newsrooms and state houses. He was a mentor to many now well-established professionals in the field. He was respected and regarded as a talented journalist.

During retirement, he stayed involved in broadcasting with his internet music station KYNA, authoring a political blog, and hosting a YouTube channel focusing on Iowa politics. He was definitely hooked for life. His sense of humor is family legend. He will be missed.

A Celebration of Life memorial will be held in the near future - time and place details are still pending. Family will post to this obituary with details when they are finalized.

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