In 1989, when Mary Ann Barnett was 48 years old, she decided to become a nurse. Her daughter, Valerie, had recently died from cancer, and Barnett had cared for her in her final years.

She was able to channel the grief of losing a child into a mid-life career change that would help her find meaning, and help others fight the dreaded disease that took her daughter.

But it wasn’t easy. Mary Ann had never finished high school, so her first step was getting her GED. After that, she went to COCC to receive her nursing degree. It took her five years to become a proud member of the nursing profession.

“It was an incredible graduation, I mean I wish I would’ve recorded it,” said her son Danny Barnett. “Here’s my 53-year-old mom with all of these 21/22 year-old kids. And they asked her to speak because it was just such an inspirational story.”

She then went on to work at St. Charles Cancer Center, where she had a successful career helping others who were fighting cancer.

Barnett died in 2024.

But her legacy of caring live on thanks to Danny, who recently set up a nursing scholarship at COCC under her name. The scholarship is aimed at supporting middle-aged women going back to school to become a nurse — just like his mother did.

“She lived such a full life and touched so many people’s lives that it was pretty incredible,” Danny said.

Barnett’s career path wasn’t straight, nor narrow. She was born on Nov. 27, 1942, in a small town in Idaho — the oldest of five siblings. She got married at a young age and had two children, Danny and Valerie. She divorced her first husband and moved her family to be closer to her parents in Madras. The three then moved to Redmond in 1965 where Mary Ann met her second husband, Bob Barnett. The pair got married in 1967.

Her first job in Redmond was at a women’s clothing store. She later worked for Bill Pearson Insurance and the City of Redmond as city recorder and city administrator. After that, she started an insurance business with her husband and served on the Redmond School Board.

But life slowed for the Barnetts in 1987. Their daughter Valerie was diagnosed with a brain tumor and died two years later.

Katie Hartley, Valerie’s hospice nurse at the time, watched Barnett channel her grief into a desire to help others. That’s when Barnett started the long path through nursing school. 

“She was determined to express her love for Valerie through service to others experiencing cancer, and her goal was to ease their way,” Hartley said. “She had an unbounded capacity for love and was an example to everyone who knew her.” 

Dr. Linyee Chang worked with Barnett at the hospital and had a close relationship with her. Chang said Barnett immediately made an impact on patients. 

“She was gifted with a healing presence that can’t be taught in nursing or medical school,” Chang said. “She used to say that some of our patients and families needed ‘to be loved on’ and spent extra time with those who needed extra support. Patients who completed treatment would come in for their follow-up appointments and ask about her.” 

After working for more than 15 years, Barnett retired. Her free time was taken over by her love of quilting and running — two things that she had done throughout her life. Once she couldn’t run anymore due to health problems, she started daily walks. Every time she would go out, Barnett could not help but talk to the neighbors who would go out of their way to say hi.

“I would walk with her and have to hold her hand because she was kind of frail, but we couldn’t get a block without someone pulling over and getting out of the car or coming out the front door and saying, ‘Oh hi, Mary Ann,'” her son Danny said.

When Barnett died — on Dec. 9, 2024 — neighbors posted her obituary and the service announcement on everyone’s doors so no one who knew her would miss it.

The new COCC scholarship in her name is intended for students interested in nursing who are not on a traditional college path. Scholarship donations can be made at cocc.edu/departments/foundation/donation-form, referring to the name “Mary Ann’s Endowment” in the comment section. 

“It’s going to go to nursing students, but the hope is that more money will go to more people who are like my mom,” Danny said. “Maybe a mom who had a kid who didn’t go to college and then raised their kid and wanted to be a nurse.” 

He also hopes to start an annual auction for all the quilts his mom made. He wants to sell the works that Barnett didn’t get to finish, so the proceeds can be funneled into the scholarship fund. Danny wants to keep this scholarship going for years to come to keep his mom’s legacy and her loving spirit alive. 

“She was such a beautiful person, just everyone loved her,” Danny said. “If touching lives was something that was measured like everything else — like success, and money — my mom would be the richest person in the world.”

The family is celebrating her life on July 12 at Powell Butte Christian Church. The service will be streamed live on the church’s YouTube channel.