By JIM BUTLER

John Barnett told some acquaintances he would be a millionaire on returning to Pineville from South Carolina.

Instead, he’s come home in a casket.

Services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at Hixson Bros., Alexandria. He will be buried at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville.

Ebullient is a word that comes to mind when listening to family and friends discuss him. 

Barnett, 62, a whistleblower on Boeing safety issues, allegedly committed suicide Saturday morning shortly before the third of three deposition sessions was to begin in Charleston, S.C.

His attorneys expressed disbelief that he would take his own life.

He retired in 2017 after 32 years with the aircraft company, telling friends he did so before Boeing fired him in the wake of his revelations about practices in the Charleston plant, to which he was transferred from Washington State that year.

Subsequently he sued, claiming he was punished for raising his concerns. Boeing moved to dismiss the action, but a judge ruled in 2022 it could go forward. Trial was scheduled for June of this year.

Also in 2022 Barnett, recipient of a national award for civic courage, was among those featured in a Netflix documentary – Downfall: The Case Against Boeing – about the company’s safety record.

After retiring Barnett, known as Mitch to some and Swampy to others, and his wife Diane, herself a 28-year Boeing employee, relocated to Pineville and pursued their interests in race cars and family.

Barnett, often referred to as Swamp Dawg by others in the racing circles, was a familiar sight around town in his distinctive orange pickup.

Diane became ill and John her caretaker until she passed at age 60 in November 2023.

Information in this story about the sequence of events in South Carolina was initially reported by The Washington Post.