Citizen Patrol member made police part of community

Published 12:01 am Sunday, May 15, 2011

GRANITE FALLS — When Granite Falls City Councilwoman Elizabeth Adams moved to town more than 10 years ago, Merlyn “Barney” Barnhart was out in her neighborhood on Citizen Patrol.

Adams’ young son was riding his bike, and Barnhart praised him for wearing a helmet and staying safe.

“All the kids loved him. He was very dedicated to the community,” Adams said.

He died April 26 at the age of 85.

Many people here will miss seeing Barnhart around town.

Members of the patrol he started more than 20 years ago did vacation house checks, helped with traffic control and ran errands for police. In all those years, he put a face on the police department.

Lake Stevens police Cmdr. Daniel Lorentzen got to know Barnhart about five years ago, when he was serving as interim chief at the Granite Falls Police Department. “A lot of people looked up to him,” he said.

“He made the police department part of the community.”

Lorentzen remembers meeting Barnhart on his first day in the office: It was Barnhart who introduced him to the community.

He also remembers the famous barbecue beef sandwiches Barnhart used to bring for the entire department.

Before Lorentzen left Granite Falls, Barnhart gave him a small figure of a hula girl. The Lake Stevens commander has kept it in his office. At Barnhart’s memorial he learned that, “if Barney gave you something from Guam, he viewed you as a true friend.”

Barnhart was a World War II veteran who had served in the U.S. Navy. Friends said he used to send Alaskan salmon and canned jellies to relatives in Guam. He had no surviving family in the area.

He enjoyed playing cribbage and loved the Citizen Patrol.

Paul Robbins served in the patrol with Barnhart for a few years. He last saw Barnhart a couple of months ago, when he was on patrol and Robbins was working in his yard.

Robbins said he didn’t know Barnhart’s health problems had become so bad.

“He was the type of person who never complained,” Robbins said. “He was a tough ol’ bird.”

Katya Yefimova:425-339-3452; kyefimova@heraldnet.com.