Life’s second chance
Michael Rivera
Silence fills the air.
Leaves continue their transformation to golden orange.
Cattle speckle the horizon, completing the pastoral vista called the Burkett farm.
The vista offers a dream sequence — and that fits Barry Burkett’s life perfectly.
“It’s the most beautiful place in the world,” he says, and he knows “the world.”
Barry, a Somerset native, now 65, held a lifelong dream to farm and practice medicine in Somerset. But he didn’t start living that dream until 2003.
“I found a way to do it,” he says.
And a roundabout trip it was:
“The watershed of my life was enlisting into the Navy,” said Barry. “Before that, I was going nowhere.”
That decision in 1966 allowed him to travel throughout the world: Bermuda, Newfoundland, Columbia, Australia, the Philippines and more.
“Another watershed in my life was meeting my wife (Susan) of 40 years in 1970,” says Barry.
They raised three children and moved throughout the United States as many military families do.
But going back to Pulaski County always remained on Barry’s mind. He grew up on a farm outside Somerset, in Nancy.
And in 1997, he bought part of the original farm that his grandfather purchased in 1907. The demand for his work as an endodontist, a root canal specialist, helped make that possible. Lake Cumberland Endodontics is a modern dental facility, the only such practice in Somerset, Ky.
“After ‘9-11,’ I knew it was time for me to come back home,” says Barry. “This was the farm I came back to. I couldn’t have done this with out being an endodontist. And I want to keep on working. I am not yet ready to hang it up. I still have a lot to give. I’ve saved the best for last.”
So, Barry got the second chance that eludes many in life.
“Someone once told me I was optimistic,” he says.
Atlas, one of two dogs Barry Burkett began caring for in 2005, used to belong to Burkett's daughter until she moved to England.
Owning a farm and his own dental practice are two things Barry Burkett has always wanted to do. He has been able to do both of these by living in Nancy where he grew up and starting his root canal practice in Somerset.
Feeding the cattle is one of the chores Barry Burkett performs on his beef cattle farm. He moved onto his farm in 2003 after working in Saudi Arabia for 10 years as an endodontist.
Barry Burkett's daily chores on his cattle farm include feeding the cattle, making sure they are healthy and fixing the fences. He works three days out of the week at his Endodontist office. He hopes his partner can soon take over the practice.
Barry Burkett cleans up in his barn that he keeps full of souvenirs of his travels in the Navy, where he served as a dentist.
Barry Burkett opened Lake Cumberland Endodontics eight years ago. "First I am an endodontist," Barry says. "I take great pride in that." Barry works three days of the week at the office and spends the rest of the time on his farm.
Barry Burkett peforms a root canal at his office in Somerset. He's one of two doctors who perform root canals in the city. "I am in great demand," Barry says.
Barry Burkett and his wife, Susan, eat breafast together at their farm. They have been married for 40 years and have lived in Nancy for eight years.
Barry Burkett eats breakfast at Mill Springs Pizza Express in Nancy with his friends at the "Liars Table." He goes there to catch up with friends that he has known since childhood.
This Knob overlooks the Cumberland river located in Somerset, Ky.