Former Auburn City Councilwoman Jeanne Barber, 83, died Jan. 1 in Texas.
Barber served on the Auburn City Council from 1991-2003 and as Mayor Pro Tem from 1996-2003. Council members appointed her to fill a vacant council seat in 1991, and she won election later that year. Auburn voters would re-elect her three times.
In 2003 Barber resigned her City Council seat owing to health concerns and a desire to move to Sherman, Texas, to be closer to her family. When she stepped down, Gov. Gary Locke proclaimed June 16, 2003 as “Jeanne Barber Day” in the state of Washington.
Barber, a political activist in the Puget Sound region for more than 30 years, was a tireless advocate for the less fortunate. In 2003 she was named an Auburn Hometown Hero.
Council members on Monday night recalled a woman known for her no-nonsense approach, dry wit and big heart.
“Jeanne was a mentor to many new council members, including myself, and a friend and confidant,” said Mayor Pete Lewis. “I talked to her several times a month for years, even after she moved. She was always so much a lady and a person who would let you know if you did not know the real circumstances, which was her position.”
Councilmember Nancy Backus, appointed to fill Barber’s seat on the council, said she was only 16 when she first met Barber.
“I was very impressionable, and she taught me through her actions what it means to be a very strong woman, and I admired her so very much from the very first time that I met her,” Backus said.
Backus recalled how Barber bore up after losing youngest son, Steve, in a traffic accident in 1978. then she set up a scholarship in his name. Backus was one of the first recipients of the scholarship.
“I always, always admired this woman so much.
“When she called and told me that she was retiring from the council and would I please consider applying for that position, what else would I say? So I I applied and was lucky enough to be appointed. She said ‘I want you to take my place, I think it’s appropriate.’ I said ‘I will take your place, but I can never, ever fill your shoes. The best I can do is try and make you proud.'”
“She knew how to get things done without wasting a lot of words, and her words were always kind and wise,” said Councilman Rich Wagner.
“She had a genuine concern for trying to meet the needs of this community, and she was a real bottom line person,” said Councilmember Lynn Norman. “She would say, ‘cut the crap and make a decision.’ ”
The Salt Lake City, Utah native married John W. Barber in 1943, a career Army man, and the family lived in many places. In 1975, after her husband’s death, Barber and her four children came to Auburn.
Barber soon became involved with Washington state politics, managing the office of U.S. Congressman Norm Dicks (D-Belfair) in the late 1970s and serving as a senior legislative assistant to Sen. Frank Warnke (D-Auburn) from 1982-1990.
She served on the advisory board for the King County Sexual Assault Center and Valley Cities Mental Health and was a member of the King County Mental Health Board and the King County Multi-Service Center Board.
Barber always described herself as a people person.
“I feel we have accomplished a great deal for the citizens of Auburn,” Barber wrote in her resignation letter in 2003. “I am particularly proud of my involvement with Auburn’s downtown plan, the curfew ordinance and my work as finance committee chair and mayor pro tem.”
Barber served as the first woman president of the Auburn Valley Kiwanis Club. As noted in a Seattle Times article in 1993, she was at a breakfast meeting of the Auburn Kiwanis Club when a man visiting from another Kiwanis club opened the meeting with a prayer asking God to bless all the men in the room.
Barber, the only woman club member present that morning, piped up and said, “P.S., and the woman, too.”
