Ingrid Emita Barrett

Ingrid Emita (Mehl) (Collins) Barrett was born on May 17, 1920, in the small German town of Niederwalluf in a home owned by her family since the 1700s, emigrated to the United States when she was 9, was married and widowed twice, had two children, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren, gardened magnificently, read widely, thought deeply, worked to make her community and nation more just and free, and died on Nov 24th, 2024, at 104 years of age.

Ingrid was the youngest child of Carl Mehl and Emma Johanna Jacoba (Kranenburg) Mehl; she, her parents, and her elder siblings Gotz (Fred) and Irmelin left Germany, concerned about rising militarism, in 1929, and arrived in New York on the steamer St. Lous in April, 1929. They moved to a farm in Sunnyside, Washington, where they were Holstein dairy ranchers and grew grapes and asparagus; the Great Depression made her resilient, frugal, and self-reliant. She grew her own fruits and vegetables in her back-yard garden and orchard into the middle of her 90s. They were the best apples, raspberries, and green beans you ever had.

She met Milton Ambrose Collins (Milt) on the bus to and from Sunnyside to Seattle, they were married Jan. 5th, 1945, while Milt, a former Merchant Marine and later mechanic, was still serving in the U.S. Navy. After stints as a nanny, maid, and juke box operator, Ingrid worked as a bookkeeper at Safeway until becoming a full-time mom to their elder daughter, Wenda, in 1949. A second daughter, Heidi, was born in 1953. She imparted to them her love of music, gardening, learning and her Dutch and German expectations for behavior. A free-thinker and inherently unorthodox person, she was married in the Unitarian church and became an active member there after President Kennedy, whom she adored, was killed in 1963. She started part-time in the financial office at the Tukwila School District in 1959 and went full-time when Mac died in 1967. Relentlessly practical, she raised her two teen daughters as a widowed mom.

She married another sailor, Bruce Barrett, in 1975. He treated her with constant kindness and made her laugh. Her grandchildren often spent time with her, climbing the apple tree and eating black olives and vanilla ice cream. She lived her whole adult life in Angle Lake on the same plot of land, and loved her neighbors and community. After retiring in 1980, she devoted her time to volunteering with the Democratic Party and as an election judge. She and Bruce moved to Merrill Gardens in Burien when he could no longer remain at home, and he died in 2017. Ingrid’s 100th Birthday party, held on the patio during the pandemic, led the local news. She moved to the Lodge at Eagle Ridge in Renton in the spring of 2024, where she received excellent care and made new friends. The day before she died, in peace and comfort, she had gotten some new books to read and study.

She summed up her view of life thus: "I believe in the natural world with new growth each spring." Ingrid is survived by her daughters Wenda Collins and Heidi (Tim) Kessler, her grandchildren Matthew Johnson, Emma Johnson, Thea (Ian) Hanley, and Laura Kessler,

and her great-grandchildren Lee and Leo Johnson-Doyle and Mick and Eamon Hanley, as well as by many beloved nieces and nephews, as well as Bruce’s many descendants. A memorial to celebrate her life will be held on March 8th, 2025, at 1pm, at Saltwater Unitarian Universalist Church. Memorials can be made to Saltwater UU Church, to your local public library, or to any organization that encourages local, community, or backyard farming.