Joan Barbara Barnowe

In Loving Memory of Joan Barbara Barnowe and James Thaddeus Barnowe. With hearts full of love and gratitude, we remember Joan Barbara Barnowe, born November 17, 1943 entered eternal rest December 14, 2025, and James Thaddeus Barnowe, born May 22, 1944 , entered eternal rest December 24, 2015 who now rejoice together in the presence of our Lord. Raised in the Roman Catholic Faith, Joan and Thad married on Sept. 7, 1968 at Queen of Apostles Church in San Jose, CA. They raised 2 children — Colin Peter Barnowe (Senior Attorney Advisor, Federal Government) and Karin Alissa Fahrenholz (Lay Missionary of Charity, Adjunct Professor of French) — teaching by example the values of moral and personal integrity, perseverance, courage, compassion, humility, fidelity, and unwavering devotion to family and friends. Their shared love for family, kindness, generosity, and endless personal sacrifices served as the foundation of their marriage. Joan and Thad lived by the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."(Matthew 7:12), modeling the 2nd Commandment: "Love thy neighbor as thyself." (Matthew 22:39). Untempted by materialism, Joan and Thad preferred the wealth of experiences afforded by travel, literature, the arts, service to others, and beholding the glory of God's creation in the cathedral of nature. Following Thad's passing on Christmas Eve, 2015, Joan sought comfort in the Faith of her younger years, becoming a parishioner at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Tacoma, WA, where she would arrive early to listen to the choir, and loved her priests – especially Fr. Mike McDermott, recently retired, former Principal of Bishop Blanchet High School where Thad was a former student. What a small world. Joan Barbara Barnowe (née Meggs) will be remembered for her contagious smile, compassionate heart, sense of humor, long-suffering, prayerful perseverance, creativity, and avid love of reading, writing, travel, hiking, biking, skiing, cooking, camping, shopping with her best friend Diana, dining, literature, the arts, and the great outdoors. Joan taught English as a Second Language at Zhongshan University during the 1982-1983 school year, worked in the English Department at the University of Puget Sound, and worked for a time in the field of education at Sunset Elementary in Tacoma, WA. She was a gifted and talented freelance writer. Above all, she devoted her whole heart and soul to raising her children, supporting her husband's many professional and educational successes, and instilling in her family the values she held dear. Joan received her Master's Degree in English following undergraduate and graduate studies at the College of the Holy Names in Oakland, CA, the University of Hawaii (where she also taught), San Jose State, and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI, where Colin was born. She met her future spouse while attending a mixer at the College of Holy Names with students from the University of San Francisco, one of whom was my Dad. As I recall, and have heard many times over the years, he was the only one wearing a suit. When my father joined the navy, he was stationed in Hawaii. Mom had considered becoming a nun, but after meeting Dad, all of that changed. Eventually, they became engaged and married at Queen of Apostles Church in San Jose, CA. Their Hawaiian honeymoon never truly ended, blossoming into years of adventurous global travel, frequent hiking and camping trips in the glorious Pacific Northwest, romantic getaways, family road trips, and fascinating sojourns abroad in China, Norway, and Poland. Their journeys took them throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, Scandinavia, Great Britain, and North America, always inseparable. They were, in fact, only separated by death, yet "Love is strong as Death . . . Its arrows are of fire, flames of the Divine." (Song of Songs 8:6). J. Thad Barnowe, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, in Memoriam (known by family and friends as Thad or "Taj") is remembered for his many years of service to Pacific Lutheran University from 1970 to 2013 as a Professor of Management. His brilliant intellect, multiple Fulbright Scholarships to China, Norway, and Poland, keen sense of humor, unwavering devotion to his wife and family, and intense love of travel, literature, film, photography, biking, wining and dining, the arts, creative design, and the wilderness (hiking, fishing, skiing, camping) were matched only by his humility. Thad served as Valedictorian for Bishop Blanchett High School, Class of 1962, never mentioning the honor. Thad received his Ph.D. degree in organizational psychology from the University of Michigan. An outstanding Professor, he taught courses within his research expertise: global management, organizational change, cross-cultural studies, personal values, decision-making, knowledge management, business administration, and human resource management at Pacific Lutheran University, after teaching at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where Karin was born. His international academic engagement included teaching as a Fulbright Scholar in China at Zhongshhan University (1982-1983), in Norway at Oslo Business School (1992-1993), and in Poland at Poznan Academy of Economics (1999-2000). His research on managerial values spanned at least nine countries. Though they walked the final steps of their earthly journeys years apart, their souls are now reunited in Christ's eternal embrace. They are survived by their daughter Karin (Timothy) Alissa Fahrenholz and son Colin (Anne) Peter Barnowe, Granddaughters Faye Lavyne Barnowe, Rosemary Kristina Barnowe, and Emily Joan Barnowe, and their grandson Nicholas Aaron Barnowe, in addition to Thad's five sisters – Marilyn Barnowe-Meyer (Steven), Kasha Leptich (Dave), Chris Hamilton (Tom, dec.), Rebecca Barnowe, and Barbara Lutz (Herlwyn, dec.), numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins, and many grandpets. They are preceded in death in their immediate family by their parents, Bonnie Jean Barnowe (teacher and homemaker), Theodore Barnowe, (University of Washington Professor), Yvonne A. Meggs (homemaker), and Edmond R. Meggs (journalist) as well as Joan's brother Charles W. Meggs (lawyer). A joint Funeral Mass for Joan and Thad will be celebrated at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church on December 30 at 11:00 a.m. with interment at Tahoma National Cemetery on Dec. 30 at 2:30 p.m. in Kent, WA where Thad will be remembered for his honorable service to the United States Navy as a Naval Officer Navigator, Lieutenant Junior Grade, on the USS Nicholas (DD-449), receiving a National Service Medal, a Vietnam Service Medal, and a Vietnam Campaign Medal. A Memorial Mass to follow in Florida, to be announced. Friends and family are invited to join in prayer and thanksgiving for their lives. "Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen."