Kelly Barnett

July 18, 1964 - October 7, 2019

Kelly Vernon Barnett, 55, was born in Wichita, Kansas on July 18, 1964. He was a 1982 graduate of Midwest City High School in Oklahoma where he played saxophone in the marching and concert bands. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1986 with a degree in psychology. He was active in the Delta Upsilon fraternity at OU. He loved the challenge of making money and sold himself into his first job at age 8 by going to the firecracker stand every day unrelenting until they hired him. He was a born entrepreneur and started his first word processing company while in college. After college he had a successful career in the computer and information technology industries, having managerial positions with EDS and Perot Systems in Detroit, Italy, San Antonio, and Denver before starting his own financial services firm in 2000. Kelly loved hunting and was an expert marksman. He had an incredible gun and knife collection. Some of his favorite times were hunting at his Grandfather’s farm near Pratt, Kansas. He was a very talented silversmith. He was a big prankster and loved playing practical jokes on people with his brothers. He is preceded in death by his mother, Rosetta Reschke Barnett; his beloved grandpa Vernon Reschke and grandmother Twila Reschke and paternal grandparents, Harry and Elizabeth Barnett. He is survived by his father, Dr. Franklin D. Barnett, M.D and step mother, Scotty, of Midwest City, OK; his three lovely daughters, Darian Williamson and husband Dillon of Denver, Sasha Nielsen and husband, Jacob, of Salt Lake City, Katya Thompson and husband, Marshall, of Salt Lake City; his sister, Julie Barnett Hicks of Dallas, TX and brothers M. Brian Barnett and wife, Socorro, of Albuquerque, NM and Colin Barnett of Pauls Valley, OK; step brother Robert Scott, of Moore, OK and step sister Shelley Young, of Edmond, OK and by his many loving aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews. Kelly suffered from depression throughout his life, finally succumbing to the illness on October 7, 2019. Having had to go to rehab a couple of times in his life, he always made it a point to help the other people who were in rehab with him-----saying he did those people a lot more good than the professionals there. That was the type of guy he was. His family prays that our society continues to better understand, accept and research the causes of depression and other mental illnesses so that someday they can be cured. Through Kelly’s challenging last years of his life, his family discovered that our nation has a woeful lack of facilities for men like Kelly, who could use a little help to get them over the hump or to keep them from going homeless or on the streets. His family would request people take action in their communities and through our political processes to make this issue known, more mainstream, and to solve this untenable state of affairs. A Memorial Service for Kelly will be held Sunday, October 27, 2019, at 7:00 pm at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6270 West 7000 South, West Jordan, Utah.