Alan Barrett

R. Alan Barrett, age 74, died on Tuesday, March 27, 2018, at Johns Hopkins Hospital after a brief illness. A lifelong resident of the Baltimore area, Alan was born and raised in the Catonsville area. Alan was the son of Roger and Mildred (Glanville) Barrett.  He attended Catonsville High School, and served afterward in the United States Army, which was a source of great pride for him. After leaving the service, he became a salesman, and most of his working life was spent in the floral and bicycle industries. Upon retiring from sales, he happily worked as a delivery driver.

Al, as he was known to his many friends, was an avid outdoorsman and endurance athlete. Throughout his life, he enjoyed hiking, trap shooting, kayaking, swimming, and cross-country skiing, but his true joy was found in biking, and it was among the riders of the greater Baltimore area that he found his tribe. Whether it was biking, or any of the other sports Al enjoyed, be could be found outside in all weather, at any time of year. For him, a day outside was a day that promised adventure.9099'MD

Al was ready with a smile and a self-deprecating joke with friends and strangers alike, and if he didn’t know someone, it was just because they weren’t a friend yet. If he wasn’t riding or hiking with friends, or bantering with the staff at the Double T or the Trolley Stop, he was feeding the birds and watching the wildlife in his back yard in Ellicott City. His calm demeanor made him a natural with wild animals, and he had been known to set a crow’s broken leg or free a trapped blacksnake caught in a collapsing shed. For him, no animal was too humble or unworthy to be loved.

He was the caretaker for his mother in her later years, and his aunt, Gertrude (Glanville) Carr, of Ellicott City, in her later years. Al is survived by son Reed Barrett of Springfield, Missouri, daughter Heather Takashima of Lompoc, California, and grandson Dennis Takashima. He left to his children a love of animals and the outdoors, imperviousness to weather, and an appreciation for the slightly absurd. He will not be soon forgotten by his family, or the close circle of friends who were there until the end. He was an uncommon man.

In lieu of flowers, his family requests that donations be made to the Baltimore Bicycling Club, to promote fitness, community, love of the outdoors, and safer conditions for riders. Please make checks payable to Baltimore Bicycling Club, Inc. Their mailing address is

Baltimore Bicycling Club
232 Garnett RD
Joppa, MD 21085-4630

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