Frances & Robert Barnes

Bob and Frances Barnes passed within days of each other in January 2025. Our family is saddened to lose these two special people, but we know they are still together. If you knew Bob and Frances, you knew they were inseparable.

Frances Mae (Hughson) Barnes was born on February 27, 1935, in Albany, Oregon, to parents Nondas and Chester Hughson. Frances grew up in a farming family with two older siblings, Nondas and Chester (Tom). Many other aunts, uncles, and cousins became especially important in her life when Frances’s mother died when she was age nine. The family farm, which eventually became a Century Farm, raised livestock and grew produce, which was sold to local grocery stores and canneries. Frances attended Fairmount Primary School and graduated from Albany High School.

Robert (Bob) Louie Barnes was born on July 17, 1936, in Rapid City, South Dakota, to parents Elsie and Louie Barnes. Bob’s family moved to Bellfountain, Oregon when he was young. Bob’s mom was a homemaker and his dad worked in the woods as a logger. He had two younger sisters, Billie Mae and Diana. Bob attended a one-room primary school and started at an early age, because as the story goes, the teacher needed one more student for the Christmas program. Bob went on to graduate from Monroe High School at age 16.

Bob and Frances met in high school through their involvement in 4-H. They told the story of going to 4-H Congress in Chicago and the long train ride spent together to and from. They officially started dating during their first week of college. They married on St. Patrick’s Day the spring of their junior year, and their marriage went on to last 68 years. Bob and Frances both graduated from Oregon State Agricultural College (now Oregon State University) in 1957. Frances earned a degree in early childhood education, and Bob in business.

Right out of college, Bob and Frances relocated to Roads End on the North end of Lincoln City, on the central Oregon Coast. Bob purchased a milk route where he picked up milk cans from dairies and delivered them to the Dairy Farmers Co-op. When Bob’s mom became ill, the family moved back to Bellfountain so Frances could care for Bob’s young sisters. Bob went to work in the woods with his dad. Later moves included Corvallis, Dallas, and Lake Grove, all in Oregon, then Lacey and Kent, in Washington. After selling State Farm insurance, Bob worked for Dodge/Chrysler until the next company transfer would have sent the family to the midwest. Bob and Frances put down roots for good in Tualatin, Oregon in 1970, and lived in that same home for the rest of their lives. Bob was then in fleet sales for International Harvester before venturing into multiple businesses, including a Glass Doctor franchise and Transmatic Transmissions auto shop. Bob then went on to own and manage rental properties.

Bob loved to hunt and fish, and shared his love of the outdoors with his family. There was a time when a road to the campground was snowed in, so he loaded full-size camp gear into the canoe and ferried it to a site across the lake. What an adventure! He took the family fly fishing in Montana, and deep sea fishing in Brookings, Oregon, and Neah Bay, Washington. Closer to home, Bob served on innumerable Tigard United Methodist Church (TUMC) committees. Bob excelled at providing for his family and rooting for his favorite team, the OSU Beavers.

Frances anchored family life with love and care, becoming a Boy Scout den mother, Girl Scout leader, room mother, and Sunday school teacher, and supported her children and her community’s children in every way she could. Frances became an extraordinary full-time in-home child care provider. Days were filled with made-up games, stories, songs, rest time, crafts, and blanket forts. She provided a safe and loving environment for many children over the years. At TUMC she ran the nursery for multiple decades, offering more children that same care. She was universally loved by children and parents alike.

After her retirement, Frances took up jigsaw puzzles and civic service projects. She was known in different groups as Frankie, the energizer bunny, and in the neighborhood, as the “skunk lady,” who knocked on doors to collect funds for the efforts to eradicate the critters. Frances was active with United Methodist Women circles and was best known for her organizational skills and phone calls to elicit help with rummage sales and potlucks. You had to be pretty brave to say no to Frances. Through all these efforts, she always maintained a well-organized and spit spot clean home.

The couple was devoted to their family throughout their lives. They raised two children, Joanne and Mike. Bob and Frances were wonderful parents, and good role models as a couple, exemplifying how to make a marriage work with two strong and stubborn individuals. Those traits have been passed down to the next two generations. Bob and Frances attended every school event for their two children, and then their two grandchildren. They decided not to move to the beach so they wouldn’t miss any art shows, track meets, or any other activities with their grandchildren. The pandemic led the family to start weekly family dinners which are continuing in their honor.

Bob and Frances enjoyed their church potluck groups and savored those evenings together. The couple played card games together daily. They enjoyed visiting the Oregon Coast as often as possible. On lucky trips, they would find a heart-shaped rock to be exchanged for a kiss, then slipped into a pocket until making its way to their yard. Frances especially loved tending to her garden. It was not unusual for her to spend several hours a day on her hands and knees, giving her plants TLC well into her 80s.

Bob and Frances are survived by their children Michael and Joanne, son-in-law Paul Taylor, grandchildren Megan and Andrew Taylor, Eric Styner, Bob’s sisters Billie Mae Eastwood and Diana Carlin, Frances’s sister Nondas Root and her brother Tom Hughson, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews. Bob and Frances dearly loved their extended families, friends, and neighbors. They honored those relationships as being deeply important.

With the help of family, others who loved them, and Gracious Care Hospice, Bob and Frances were able to stay in their home until they passed, together to the end.

Frances died of mantle cell lymphoma after a year of physical decline, which was complicated by advanced macular degeneration. Bob received a metastatic liver cancer diagnosis on Christmas Eve and passed just 17 days later. Bob passed on January 11, 2025, at age 88. Frances passed on January 28, 2025, at age 89. Both passed peacefully with family by their side. Bob and Frances shared a deep faith and religious practice. They desired to live their lives in the example of Christ. To everyone who knew and loved them, it is agreed, it was two lives well lived.

Think of them when you eat a pickle (Bob), discover a missing puzzle piece in an odd place (Frances), or find a heart-shaped rock on the beach.

A joint celebration of life for Robert and Frances Barnes will be held on Saturday, April 5, 2025, at 1 pm, at Tigard United Methodist Church, 9845 SW Walnut Place , Tigard, OR 97223.