Dolores Barrett (born Pia Dolores Rigali in 1930) grew up in an Italian neighborhood of St. Paul near the State Capitol - with her parents (Humberto and Geraldine), four siblings (Don, Frank, Mary and Gerri) and numerous other close relatives. Dolores attended school at St. Joseph's Academy, an all-girls Catholic school located on the corner of Marshall and Western Avenue in St. Paul (originally established in 1851 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet). While at St. Joseph's Academy, Dolores excelled at numerous subjects, including science, biology, chemistry, English and home economics. Her devotion to St. Joseph (or "San Giuseppe" as she referred to him in Italian) continued throughout her life - and she often encouraged her children and others to pray to St. Joseph (the patron saint of families and home life) in times of need.

After graduating from St. Joseph's Academy in 1947, Dolores excelled at a variety of different jobs, including the former Hanna Fuel Company, the State of Minnesota and the City of St. Paul Elections Department. In addition she helped out the Rigali family business - the Midway Liquor Store (which was sold by the family in the 1960s; although still in business today on the corner of University and Prior in St. Paul). Upon her father's death in 1952, Dolores left the St. Paul Elections Department in order to help out at Midway Liquor full-time. It was there where she met Daniel Barrett, who was working there part-time while attending the University of St. Thomas. In 1960 Dolores and Dan were married at the Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, a long-time beacon of St. Paul's Italian-American community (until its controversial closing in the late 1960s in order to make way for the building of Highway 94 through downtown St. Paul).

After marrying, Dolores and Dan settled into their home in St. Paul and started a family. Eventually a total of seven children born within a nine-year span, including two sets of twins in a row. As their family started to grow, the family needed space and in 1967 moved to suburban White Bear Lake, where Dan and Dolores raised all seven children and remained until moving to Woodbury as "empty nesters" in 1999. While raising her family, Dolores strived to incorporate numerous Italian influences into day-to-day family life through her love of cooking, humor and story telling. Holiday and other family get-togethers were always a memorable (and oftentimes hilarious) mix of amazing Italian food and endless stories about the myriad of interesting Italian relatives, as well as the "good old days" growing up in St. Paul. Although family life had plenty of fun and games, Dolores and Dan also instilled a very strong work ethic into their children and continually emphasized the importance of studying hard and receiving a good education. They made numerous sacrifices in order to help support their children's varied educational, professional and other ambitions. For example, Dolores worked several part-time jobs while juggling the demands of raising seven kids, including several years working as an admittance clerk in the emergency room of Ramsey (now Regions) Hospital in St. Paul. This strong work ethic paid off - as in addition to their Hill-Murray diplomas all seven Barrett children earned a college degree, with most earning advanced degrees.

After retiring from Ramsey Hospital, Dolores kept busy with numerous hobbies. In addition to spending time with her family (including six grandchildren), she enjoyed cross-stitching, traveling to Duluth and the North Shore of Lake Superior with husband Dan, visiting Door County and enjoying multi-hour "lunches" (with a penchant for Chinese and Italian food) with her circle of close friends.

In March 2005 Dolores passed away from a sudden heart attack, spurred by a bout of the flu while recovering from knee replacement surgery. Although she is missed dearly, as a lasting legacy to her spirit and commitment her family would like to help other students to attend Hill-Murray. An amazing woman, Dolores would be thrilled to be giving something back to both the Twin Cities' Italian-American community and to a school that has meant so much to her family.