Barrett’s death on Sept. 16 “kind of represents an end of an era, where the objective was to explore and find new fields,” said his son, Joe Barrett. Barrett then started Barrett Energy, which rebranded as Barrett Resources when it went public in 1983. Bill Barrett Corp., one of Colorado’s largest publicly traded oil and gas producers, merged with Fifth Creek Energy. And he always made time for family, Joe Barrett said of his father. “He and Mom traveled the world,” Joe Barrett said.