Barbara Jean Staley

Barbara Jean Staley was born on January 25, 1949, to Walter and Mary Bird in Oxnard, California. She died on February 22, 2023, in Olympia, Washington. She was the second of two children. Her brother Walt Jr., or “Buddy”, as she called him, was nine years older.

When Barbara was 16 years old, her mother died. It was a devastating loss, especially for Barbara’s father, with whom she always had a close relationship. She graduated from Hueneme High School in 1967. In her early and mid-20's she struggled with heroin addiction and was in and out of detox facilities. Then, in November 1976, she had a life-changing encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ that would change her life forever.

Delivered from bondage and seeking to start a new life, Barb left Southern California to join a small Bible college and Christian community in Kerman, California, called God's Army Seminary. There she worked as a secretary for the president of the college and attended Bible classes. Most importantly, she met her husband, Scott Staley, and they were married on June 10, 1978.

The following month they left the college to be part of a church planting team in Federal Way, Washington. The new church started out as Northwest Christian Center and later became Northwest Church. Barbara taught Sunday school and helped organize events for the women. She also worked a full-time job as a secretary for J.A. Jack & Hemphill Bros., a limestone mining company in Seattle.

Scott and Barbara's first place to themselves was a small duplex in Des Moines, Washington. Soon after that, they bought a house in Federal Way – just in time for the birth of their first son, David, on May 1, 1980. Their second son, Justin, was born a year and a half later, on December 14, 1982. Meanwhile, Scott was helping with church, roofing to earn a living, and taking classes at Faith Evangelical Lutheran Seminary in Tacoma.

A big move came in 1984. Scott and Barbara moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia, for Scott to attend the school of public policy at CBN (later Regent) University. Scott worked at roofing when not attending classes; and Barb did babysitting and typing jobs to help keep the family afloat financially.

Scott graduated in 1986, and in 1987 the family moved back to Federal Way. Scott went to work for various public policy organizations but was still dependent on roofing for income. Barbara started out homeschooling David and Justin. Later, the boys went to Tacoma Baptist Schools, and Barbara began work as a medical transcriptionist for Flying Fingers Medical Transcription. She enjoyed the work, especially because it allowed to work from home, take the boys to and from school, and be available for her friends and family as needed.

In 1995 Scott started working as a legislative assistant at the state Legislature, and Barbara later went to work for Virginia Mason clinic and then Tacoma Orthopedic Surgeons, until she had to leave for health reasons in 2012. She was on the liver transplant list at the University of Washington until she received breakthrough pharmaceutical treatment for hepatitis c, which resulted in improvement in her overall health.

In 2014 Scott and Barbara moved to Olympia to be closer to Scott’s job at the state Legislature. Their granddaughter, Lea Staley, was born in 2017 to her son, David, and daughter-in-law, Debbie, who calls Grandma Barb “the best person I've ever met, the most amazing woman I've ever known”.

Over the past decade, Barbara experienced ongoing challenges related to liver cirrhosis, a pulmonary infection, and stress fractures in her back. Despite these setbacks, she kept her joyous spirit, her uncanny wit and humor, even in the bleakest of times. She cherished relationships with her niece, Carol Parrish, and her sister-in-law, Madeline McGinley, as well as her long-time friends John and Esther Passeger, Cindy Kruse, and Leigh Connell. Her home group at Hope Community Church was a source of blessing and encouragement. Although not always able to attend because of her health, she was constant in her prayers with them and for them. Text messaging with her dear friend, Linda Hurst, gave her things to think and pray about besides her own discomfort.

Barbara served the Lord Jesus Christ faithfully. She loved her Lord and cared for her family and friends with joy and affection, ever grateful for God’s love and mercy to her.

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