Margaret Barnett

MARGARET JANE BARNETT

Margaret Jane Barnett, 95, of Missoula, passed away peacefully on Saturday, January 20, 2024, at the Living Centre in Stevensville, of natural causes.

She was born on February 15, 1928 in Butte, MT to Ralston Hughes McCrackin and Eileen Weygant McCrackin. Her childhood years through high school were spent in Drummond, MT. She graduated from Drummond High School in 1946. Following high school she attended the University of Minnesota, Duluth Branch, graduating in 1951, majoring in psychology and social studies with a core in sociology.

After graduation she was employed in Three Forks and then worked for a short time at the state hospital in Warm Springs where she met her future husband, Robert Judson Barnett. They were married on December 28, 1952 at the First Baptist Church in Butte by Bob's father, Rev. Roy Barnett. They lived in Belgrade for a very short time, then moved to Missoula where they resided the rest of their married lives. After Robert passed away in 2007 she remained in Missoula till 2020 when she moved into an assisted living apartment at the Living Centre in Stevensville.

Margaret worked for a number of years in the sixties as a social worker in Missoula and later in Superior. After a few years she decided to study for a teaching degree at the University of Montana. Her first teaching job was at Lolo grade school. She taught fourth grade for a short time, then discovered she was better suited to be a librarian. She remained at Lolo grade school through the seventies and into the mid-eighties, retiring in 1986.

With her summers free she was able to thoroughly enjoy the adventure of traveling worldwide to a number of countries including Europe, South America and China, meeting and making many friends.

Some of her favorite pastimes were reading and crocheting. She also enjoyed creating miniature doll houses for several years which she sold at craft stores. Hiking was a very big part of her life. She especially enjoyed it if she could take a neighbor dog along. She also loved peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, from the time she was a child till the day of her passing.

She was preceded in death by her father, Ralston Hughes McCrackin, her mother, Eileen Weygant McCrackin, and her husband Robert Judson Barnett.

Survivors include her daughter Joyce Barnett Tichenor of Missouri, her son Albert Barnett (Christi) of Stevensville, and six grandchildren: Joseph Burnich, Benaiah Burnich, Steve Burnich, Damion Barnett, Sherisse Davis, and Adam Anderson, as well as twelve great grandchildren.

An outdoor memorial service will be planned sometime in the coming Spring on Blue Mountain.

Memorials can be donated to the Humane Society of Western Montana.