Rich Berrett, 84, native of Bloomington, passed quietly into spirit on November 4, 2021 following a bout with metastatic renal cancer while in hospice care at a close friend's home.

His parents were Margaret Jane Slusser Berrett, a weaver and art teacher, and Donald Samuel Berrett, of the German faculty at IU. Rich is survived by son, Richard-Scott McGrew Berrett and his wife, Marti, of Kapaa, Hawaii; and their children, Corissa, Justis, Macie, and Manakai; younger brother, Robert, and his wife, Patricia, of Atlanta Georgia, and their daughter, Sara; and his former wife, Kathleen McGrew, of Lebanon Oregon.

Rich studied trombone at University High School, played in a trad jazz band, and spent a year in Oldenburg, Germany, where his father was a Fulbright Scholar. His guitar repertoire included songs of his ancestral Wales and early blues, and he composed and sang utilizing folk process, interpolating renditions of songs of obscure and varied origin. He was proprietor of Bloomington's Phase Three Coffeehouse; once honored with an appearance by folk legend Pete Seeger. After spending several years in St. Petersburg, Florida, he returned to Bloomington, where he applied his talents as a "shade tree mechanic," coaxing the extended performance of hundreds of vehicles.

A lifelong gardener, Rich volunteered for many local nonprofit organizations, including assisting SLO Foods garden pantry with an organic garden along the B-Line Trail, building soil and helping to feed many in need. He loved nature and fought to protect his community, campaigning against the proposed PCB incinerator and the Marble Hill Nuclear Plant.

He lived as an ad hoc relief agency and source of encouragement for innumerable disadvantaged people. His down-to-earth warmth, kindness, and relentless initiative are recalled with love and admiration by his many friends, who know there was no one quite like him. He will be dearly missed by all who were blessed to know him.

To access a memorial site, convey regards, see family photos, learn more, please inquire to: peaceandloveuntorichberrett@gmail.com.