Where Are They Now? — Katherine DeMartini (Barrus)

Like for many of you, twenty years have passed quickly. Life has been full and rich. Following graduation, I attended BYU. With Heather Anderson, I did a six-month study abroad in London and had the chance to travel all over Great Britain and Western Europe. I certainly got the travel bug and have been indulging myself in travel as much as possible since. I graduated from BYU with a BA in humanities. Before my last year at BYU, I did an LDS mission to Switzerland and France. I love both countries and still manage to keep my French from getting too rusty.

After graduating from BYU, I launched into a doctoral program in upstate New York at the University of Albany. I went from the #1 “Stone Cold Sober” university, to the #1 Party School in the nation. What a change. I again studied humanities.

In between my first and second semesters in Albany, I returned to Utah to get married. I married Kent Barrus in January 1995. He is a Provo guy, even graduated from PHS, but we didn’t exactly meet while we were at school. We are listed on the “halls of love” page on the class web site, but more appropriately belong in the “inappropriately disproportionate age-discrepancy” group; Kent graduated in 1975. I am his trophy wife. We spent three years in New York, enjoying all the wonderful sites and exciting places to visit. We returned to Provo to be closer to family and will likely be here forever. I told Kent, if we were going to be Utahans until we died, we had to keep traveling. He has obliged and we have been to Paris, Spain, India, Korea, Hong Kong, China, and Mexico. Italy and Egypt are next on the list.

I finished my degree in December 1999 and was officially Dr. Katherine DeMartini Barrus before I was 30! I’m not the kind of doctor that does anyone any good, and I haven’t done a thing with my degree since. Looked for work, didn’t find anything that suited me, so I resigned myself to the life of a kept woman. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Kent is part owner of a small, multi-national company that manufactures concrete sealants. In July 2006 we adopted a little boy, Brandt, who changed me from a kept woman into a stay-at-home mom, which I enjoy (most days). Brandt has brought such joy and delight into our home. He keeps me running.

Speaking of running, I haven’t done any marathons, but I did a few triathlons, and then decided biking was my thing. Did a couple of century rides, and now that I have such a busy boy to occupy every minute of my day, I just try and get out and ride several times a week. I enjoy cooking, reading (the degree helps me make pithy and insightful comments at book group, so it wasn’t a complete waste), playing outside, and being with family. Life is good. Looking forward to seeing you all next month.