Rosemary Harriet Barnett

Rosemary Harriet Barnett (Cole) was born July 24, 1923 and died April 24th 2017 in Tacoma, WA. She was born and raised in Orting, WA where she lived until marrying Lloyd Barnett. Rosemary was born to Elis E. Cole and Lilly Antrim. She was married twice, first to Denvil Dale Summers who was killed in 1944 fighting in the Second World War. Devastated, she waited 8 years and then married Lloyd C. Barnett. That marriage lasted until Lloyd’s death in 2010. Her siblings were Cecil Cole, Mildred (Stephens) McClanahan and Jean Taylor. All are deceased. Rosemary had 4 children, Dale E. Summers,( wife Ellen ) Virginia J. Rhine, (husband Douglas), Alan Barnett and Roy Barnett (wife Jenny, now deceased). All live in the Tacoma, Puyallup area. There are 7 grandchildren, Dale P. Summers, Dennis B. Summers, Dan B. Summers, Leanne Goodner, Stephen Patrick McCreery (Pat), Amber Barnett and Chris Barnett. There are 4 greatgrandchildren and one greatgreat grandchild. One of the things that most affected Rosemary her whole life was the death of her mother when she was only 3 years old. Her father, Elis Cole raised her and her older sister Jean to be selfsufficient adults although there were numerous close relatives living nearby that made up a large part of her young life. She learned a lot from her Aunts and loved playing with numerous cousins. Rosemary graduated from the Orting High School. Growing up she worked picking and packing fruit in the Orting Valley as a way to earn her spending money. She said she was the fastest on her line. Rosemary’s main interest all through her life was her family which she loved immensely and unconditionally. She did work for awhile at Fort Lewis before getting married. Later, when she had time she sold Avon products in the neighborhood and she volunteered for Hospice for several years. Her kind spirit was highly valued in that capacity. She also took the neighborhood boys under her wings as they were growing up keeping many of them out of trouble. Lloyd and Rosemary moved to Basin City near Othello after their family was raised. There they joined several other Barnetts in starting the town. They were important in that they built 2 houses and planted all the street trees and did many other things to help establish their community. They were important members of the local church and became good friends of the members and pastors of the church. A couple things she liked to do was to make all the floral arrangements for the church every week and contribute her savory concoctions to the church potlucks! Crafting, gardening, reading, shopping at Goodwill and collecting pretty glassware were other favorite things. Of course we cannot forget her lifelong love of cats. She always had at least one and at times, MANY because she raised siamese cats for years. Her legacy is one of great love of her God and of her family, her beautiful gardens wherever she lived and of course her sense of humor which lasted as long as she did. Often she had staff and family in stitches in her assisted living home, her rehab facility, as well as Heartwood where she passed away. It was only 2 days before she passed that she suddenly broke out singing “The Wild Irish Rose” to the amazement of all who were there. Her words at the end “I love you all”