Elizabeth (Betty) Barnett was my wife, Lita’s, mother. She was born in 1910 and died December 20, 1985. She was a very remarkable woman in so many respects and a person for whom I had a great deal of love and admiration. She and her husband Hollis operated the Gateway Inn at the entrance to Mount Rainier for many years. This is a poem she wrote:

"The snow floats gently on my roof tonight from mountain clouds of high; while stepping gently past my door, the gentle deer goes by.

The firelight flickers in this country inn, the pictures look down from the wall; the conviction is strong but mournful too, each child must answer his call.

Time rushes on, severing the span of youth; Was it yesterday one of them said: ‘if I say my prayers and brush my teeth, could I maybe sleep in your bed?’

From memory’s halls of yester years a hollow echo rings; The pictures smile and prove again, Life and youth are born on wings.

My fire is low and I hear the song lilting round a mountain high; Where the fir’s dark shadows paint the ground with a refrain pastel and shy.

If walking tall through life’s circuitous path along the horizons rim; You smile as you meet each stranger’s wrath , the shadows of life will be dim"