Everette Glenn Barefoot

FOUR OAKS, NC—Everette Glenn Barefoot, 91, passed away peacefully, asleep in his pajamas, on the morning of Sunday, Feb.14, 2016. Everette was born on Sept. 9, 1924 on the family farm in Johnston County, one of ten children of Mordecai and Bertha Keene Barefoot. Everette was the last surviving sibling, and enjoyed a long, healthy, fulfilling life – most of it with his high school sweetheart and loving wife of 67 years, Jean Cooper Barefoot, who passed away in October of 2012. Everette is survived by his two sons, Stephen Glenn Barefoot of Durham, Michael Cooper Barefoot of Chapel Hill, along with his husband Timothy Manale, grandson John Mallary Barefoot Klein of Portland, OR, and niece Pamela Barefoot whom he referred to as the daughter he never had. Everette enjoyed the love of many nieces and nephews and a caring circle of friends, former career colleagues and church family at Four Oaks United Methodist Church where he had been a loyal and supportive member since the 1940s. As a youth, Barefoot was an active young 4-H member from 1938 and endorsed 4-H efforts for the remainder of his life, later commenting that 4-H was the “only club a rural farm boy could join” during those years. After Everette and Jean graduated from Four Oaks School in 1942, he enrolled at Maxton Junior College before enlisting in the US Army Air Corps in December 1943 and reporting to service at Fort Bragg, NC. It was on Barefoot’s 20th birthday that he departed on his inaugural flight to England with the 8th Air Force, and on the first day of his European service, 30 of the 37 bombers dispensed were lost. Barefoot served as a nose-gunner on a B-24 on 20+ missions in Western Europe. He maintained a very close bond with the ten men in his crew, all of whom would come together for reunions almost yearly – until Everette remained the last surviving member of his troop. Everette would tearfully recall that his first letter he wrote to his mother after landing in Europe arrived to her Johnston County mailbox with only the following words left uncensored: “Dear Mama—Love Everette.” He later wrote that on his first mission, when his name came up on the roll call on the plane, his fear was so deep that he was unable to speak a sound. His discharge as Staff Sergeant came on Nov.19, 1945. He was awarded the Air Medal and two Oak Leaf Clusters for meritorious service, and remained an active member of Four Oaks American Legion Post for the rest of his life. Upon return from the war, Everette enrolled at NC State University and subsequently maintained a small farm, raising tobacco, pigs and corn, while enjoying a 32-year career with the US Soil Conversation Service from 1948 until his retirement in1980. Almost immediately upon that retirement, he dove energetically into establishing a strawberry farm and founding “Barefoot Hams” on Hwy 701 in Johnston County. Having cured hams for family and friends as gifts for years, Barefoot quickly grew one of the most respected ham-curing operations in the southeast, with his product sold in stores from local area groceries to high-end gourmet eateries in New York until the Barefoots “retired from the ham house” in 1998. In a 2001 article about Barefoot Hams in OUR STATE magazine, it was recounted how a senior producer/correspondent with ABC News and 20/20 had become a loyal mail-order customer. “I am never without a Barefoot Ham hanging in my kitchen,” he was quoted. “Their hams are on par with the best of Parma ham or the best French country ham, better than any other American hams I’ve ever had.” Everette Barefoot remained proud of those hams ‘til the day he died. He’d chuckle that he couldn’t really remember anymore how to cure them, but they “sure had been good.” Everette long exhibited a zest for life and a laugh that could be heard and recognized for miles. In latter years, he longed for his close friends who had gone on before him and, most of all, for his beautiful Elsie Jean – whom he rejoined on Valentine’s Day. The funeral service will take place at Four Oaks United Methodist Church on Friday, Feb. 19 at 3 pm, with visitation in the church fellowship hall from 1-3 pm. Instead of flowers, memorial contributions should be made to Four Oaks United Methodist Church, 302 North Church St., Four Oaks, NC 27524 or to Johnston County 4-H Association, 2736 NC 210 Hwy, Smithfield, NC 27577. The family’s special thanks goes to longtime care giver and companion to both Mr. and Mrs. Barefoot, Beatrice Giles of Benson, and to neighbors Rufus & Linda Sanders, without whom the Wednesday night trips to Chick-Fil-A and the Sunday afternoon rides for ice cream would have left a unthinkable void in Everette’s life.