Eula Marie Barrett

Eula Marie Barrett, age 99, passed away peacefully at her home east of Cottonwood Falls on June 3, 2026. The daughter of Glen and Jacquita (Russell) Burton, she was bom on May 20, 1927, at the family home three miles north of Matfield Green. She loved Chase County and lived almost a century in the area where her Sharp, Brandley, and Russell ancestors settled in the 1860s.

Eula attended a one room school house in Bazaar during the Great Depression. She was the only daughter with four brothers. Her mother needed her help with the housework but she was really a spunky outdoor girl. As soon as she finished her chores, she would sneak outside to ride her horse, Shorty. She met her future husband, Glendon Barrett, at the roller-skating rink in Cottonwood Falls. They were married on October 20, 1944 and shared 72 years together. She graduated from Chase County Community High School in 1945.

Eula worked alongside her husband in the fields and the dairy farm while they raised their four children. Barrett Dairy sold milk by the gallon on the honor system, where customers came to the barn and left their money. In their many years of farming, Eula and Glendon received the Soil Conservation Award, the Chase County Friends of 4-H Award, and the Chase County Farm Bureau Farm Family of the Year Award. They also clerked auctions for Everett Smith, Jim Barr, and Hancock Auction. For enjoyment they loved to go square dancing at Bluestem Hall in Emporia.

Eula served her family, her church, and her community. She was a member of the Cottonwood Falls United Methodist Church, where she taught Sunday School and Bible School as a young mother and served as longtime treasurer of United Methodist Women. She served on the Chase County Extension Council and was a member of Cottonwood Valley Home Demonstration Unit. She was a Chase County Fair 4-H Superintendent and a member of Falls Chapter #25 of the Order of the Eastern Star.

Eula enjoyed sewing and was a master seamstress. She made school clothes, prom dresses, and bridesmaids’ dresses for her daughters. She was Gladstone 4-H Club’s sewing leader. Baking and canning for her friends and family was a labor of love. She baked cream pies for the lunches at the Chase County Fair served by the United Methodist Women and made a record 22 pies for one family auction. Her cinnamon rolls and dinner rolls were her grandchildren’s favorites.

Eula and Glendon spent many of their later years volunteering at the senior center. Eula joined the All In Fitness Center in her late eighties and was a founding member of the Senior Fun Fit exercise class. She continued to attend class through her nineties.

Eula is survived by her daughter, Glenda Priest of Emporia, son and daughter-in-law James and Melinda Barrett of Cottonwood Falls, son-inlaw Harold Wise of C'hillicothe, Illinois, son-in-law Marvin Slabaugh of Oberlin; 9 grandchildren: Scott Slabaugh (Angela) of Tonganoxie, Sheryl Peters (Dan) of Clay Center, Nathan Priest (Jen) of Stillwater, Oklahoma, Molly Priest (Brian Henderson) of Emporia, Sarah Bays (Justin) of Toledo, Curtis Lockhart (Sarah) of Omaha, Nebraska, Jeremy Barrett (Megan) of Gretna, Nebraska, Jerod Barrett (Stacia) of Cottonwood Falls, and Allison Irwin (Eric) of Cottonwood Falls, and 25 great grandchildren: Gwen, Grace, and Gage Slabaugh; Morgan and Sam Peters; Hazel and Eleanor Priest and Belle Wakefield; Bradly Henderson and Zoe Dylan Priest; Selma and Salem Bays; Ale, JJ, Maria, Dawaun, Jerrimyah, and Jahmir Lockhart; Mason and Lily Barrett; Dom and Mabel Barrett; Kiya Cahoone, Evan and Emmet Irwin.

She was preceded in death by her husband, her daughters Beverly Slabaugh and Jana Wise, son-in-law Eric Priest, and her brothers Warne, Roy, George, and Harry Burton.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, July 3, at Brown-Bennett-Alexander Funeral Home in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas. Inurnment will take place in the Barrett family plot in the Miller Cemetery in a private family ceremony. Memorial contributions may be made to Chase County Wishes Project or the Chase County Senior Center in care of the funeral home, P.O. Box 220, Cottonwood Falls, KS 66845.