David Barrett was born Feb 5, 1940 at St. Paul’s hospital in Vancouver to his parents John David Barrett Sr. and Margaret Barrett (nee Wood). David’s final days were also spent at St. Paul’s before passing away peacefully Apr 5, 2016, and after a valiant fight against cancer.

David is survived by his brother Jim (Jimmy) Barrett as well as David’s stepsons John Carl Wirtz and Gregory Scott Wirtz. In recent years, David developed a close and loving relationship with his friend Peggy Woodley and her family.

David graduated from the UBC Faculty of Forestry in 1965, and went on to complete his PhD in Wood Science at the University of California, Berkeley in 1971. It was there at Berkeley that David met his wife of many years Lyndall Barrett and her three young sons, John, Alan (predeceased) and Gregory, with whom David remained close throughout his life. The family moved to Vancouver in 1971 where David began his career in wood science with the Western Forest Products Lab.

In his professional career, Dr. David Barrett was a leader in the field of Wood Mechanics and Timber Engineering. His work and talents were respected and recognized internationally as exemplified by many awards that he won including the Wood Award; LJ Markwardt Wood Engineering Award; FRBC Forest Excellence Award; Dr. Hideo Sugiyama Award to name a few.

David joined UBC 1984 as the Head of the Harvesting and Wood Science Department and served as Head for a total of 15 years. He played a major role in developing the undergraduate Wood Products Processing program and in establishing the Centre for Advanced Wood Processing. Among leading researchers in wood science, David was unique in that he also managed to develop a strong relationship with and an understanding of the timber industry. Through his professional involvement and close friendships with fellow researchers around the world, he helped many national and continental timber standards become more uniform and therefore facilitate international trade.

David lived a remarkably full life and he will be remembered by many people for his extraordinary intellect, his calm and quiet confidence, and his passion for life and the people in his life.

In honour of David’s outstanding career and longstanding relationship with UBC, the Dr. J. David Barrett Memorial Scholarship in Wood Science has been established at the UBC Faculty of Forestry. The scholarship has been endowed and so will represent a lasting legacy for David. Our goal is to raise $50,000 for this endowment fund to enable a scholarship of $1,750 to be given out annually to a deserving student.