Barrett and Co. acquired a second tannery in Bellville, NJ, then later was able to buy Mrs. Wagner’s pie factory next to the Newark plant. It was a considerable challenge to consolidate everything in Newark, but it was an opportunity to assemble a truly efficient factory.

The years sped by as the children completed elementary school and the older three attended Kent School in Kent, CT By 1971, with the tannery running smoothly, James became restless; the older children were becoming college age and the couple was ready for a change. November found James and “Killy" in Iowa looking for an acreage to buy. They found a very special spot in Pleasant Twp. The home in New Jersey was put on the market and in January 1972 they moved back to Iowa. The special spot was very run down and would keep them busy for many years.

Three of the children returned to the Decorah area. John, after a stint of welding water towers, started his own welding and machine shop. Daniel decided to farm and bought another farm nearby. Barbara became a veterinarian and is employed at a local pet hospital. Mary Kate, a landscape architect, went on to get her Ph.D. at Wisconsin and is now a professor of land management at the University of Maine. Hunter got his Bachelor's Degree at Iowa State in chemistry, departed for California and joined a budding winery in Napa Valley. After several years and more study, he joined the Department of Agriculture in Washington, DC as a research chemist in plant genetics.

Becker, Alan and LuAnne (Burns)

(Alan Clyde Becker)