Agnes Louisa Barnes

BARNES — Agnes Louisa (Nichols), 92; born June 26, 1928, Shanghai, China; died Sept. 25, 2020, Anacortes, Washington. Surviving: son, Joseph Dale, College Place, Washington; daughters and sons-in-law, Sherlyn Jo and Ken Wolford, The Dalles, Oregon; Lorinda and Don Snow, Troutdale, Oregon; 6 grandchildren, Daniel, David, Joshua, Julie, Gia and Shawna and 11 going on 12 great-grandchildren.

Agnes Lou Barnes, 92, of Anacortes, Washington passed away on Friday, Sept. 25, 2020.  She was born in Shanghai, China, to parents, Cecil and Mabel Nichols, who were missionaries in China. 

Cecil would minister to the Tibetans in the southwest of China, while Mabel and Agnes stayed more than 2,900 miles away, in Shanghai in southeast of China, with Mabel working as a teacher. Thus, the family was not together when they were forced out of China during the 1934 Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang. Cecil was escorted out of the Tibetan Mountains by his "angel," who resembled General Chiang Kai-Shek. Cecil was dressed as a teacher by the General, to escape scrutiny of the Communists, in order to get him down the mountains and across large field to get onboard a ship bound for America. When Cecil turned to thank him, Cecil could not find the General. He had mysteriously vanished. Cecil could only hope that Mabel and Agnes were on board the ship and miraculously, considering the circumstances, they were.

Agnes was six years old when she arrived in Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1935. The Nichols family remained there for two years. Cecil set up the first Seventh-day Adventist Church in the area. At age nine, Agnes moved with her family to College View in Lincoln, Nebraska.

In 1946, Agnes married the love of her life, Joseph N. Barnes. Joseph graduated from Union College and the couple moved New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1947. With her dad’s passing in 1956, (Cecil was only 56 years old) her mother, Mabel made her home with them in New York City, where Joseph was director, pastor of the New York Center in Times Square. They had three children. Agnes was a woman of strong faith in Jesus and an awesome mother to their children. She was a very organized home maker.

In the summer of 1962, the Barnes family together with Mabel, moved to College Place, Washington. Agnes became the secretary of the College Church for six years and then chaplain secretary for Seventh-day Adventist General Hospital for 10 years. In 1993, they retired to their dream home on the waterfront in Anacortes, Washington, where Mabel passed away in Jesus.

Joseph preceded Agnes in death on Oct. 15, 2015. Agnes remained in her home till September 2020 and was briefly admitted to assisted living for two weeks when she died from deteriorating health. God blessed her with a long life.

Joint Memorial Services for Joseph and Agnes will be held at Mount Hope in College Place a later time.

To share memories of Agnes, please sign the online guestbook at https://www.evanschapel.com.