Charley Barrett - Later Years and Death

Later Years and Death

Barrett served as an ensign in the United States Navy during World War I. In 1918, he was injured in an explosion on the armored cruiser USS Brooklyn in Yokohama harbor and never fully recovered from the injuries. After returning to the United States, Barrett lived in Bellevue, Pennsylvania. In November 1919, he married Edna Stevens in a private ceremony at the home of the bride's sister. Barrett and his wife had two daughters.

Barrett later went into the real estate business in Los Angeles, California. He moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1923, hoping to recover his health. He died in Tucson in May 1924 at age 30.

In 1925, a bronze tablet was unveiled on the Cornell campus containing the following tribute to Barrett: "In memory of Charles Barrett, who died May 21, 1924, as a result of illness contracted in an explosion on the U.S.S. Brooklyn in Yokohama Harbor, Japan, during the World War. As a tribute to his splendid loyalty and leadership and as homage to a most worthy gridiron adversary, we respectfully dedicate this tablet to Cornell University. His teammates and friends, and the 1915 Pennsylvania football team."