Mary Lou Barnes

Our adored Mary Lou Wagner Barnes passed away peacefully April 20, 2019 after a brief illness. Mary Lou always found the positive in life, was the life of every party and seemed to hand out smiles like candy to everyone she met. She was witty, loved to travel, and thoroughly enjoyed an occasional margarita. Born May 18, 1922 in Henryetta, OK, to Mary Frances and Dr Harry Wagner, Mary Lou was raised alongside her younger sister, Diana. Their grandmother, Maybell Jones, lived with the family. During the Depression, the Wagners bought a nearby farm and Mary Lou loved to tell about the summer she spent herding sheep. She quickly realized shepherding was not a good summer job and made sure to enroll in summer school thereafter. Mary Lou attended William Woods College in Stephens, MO before graduating from OU in 1944 with a degree in Social Work. While a Delta Gamma at OU, Mary Lou was set up on a blind date with Bill Barnes, a handsome petroleum engineering student. They fell in love and were a striking couple whose elegant swing dancing could quickly clear a dance floor. During WWII, Mary Lou worked as a Social Worker for the Red Cross while Bill served in the Army Air Corps as a Navigator on a B-17 bomber. Bill and Mary Lou married in 1946, had three sons: Billy, Robert and John and later raised grandson Aaron as their fourth son. There was always room at the table for another friend or relative, and they taught their children and grandchildren how to love not just in good times, but for a lifetime. As a young bride and mother of three small boys Mary Lou often went with Bill to sit oil and gas wells in oil fields of North Dakota Badlands, Texas and Oklahoma. Bill's geology career then took them to Algeria, where Mary Lou loved accompanying Bill to wells in the Sahara.Mary Lou was a 75 year member of the PEO Sisterhood in 1944 and was proud to have founded the chapter in Abilene, TX.Mary Lou was predeceased by her beloved husband, Bill; sister Diana and granddaughter Marianna. She is survived by her sons Bill Newland Barnes, Jr; Robert Norton Barnes (Cara) and John Douglas Barnes (Jane); grandchildren Aaron, Megan, Allison and Cassidy; great-grandchildren Alejandro, Ivory, Kaia, Levi, David, Joshua, Sarah Jane, Emmanuel and Christian. Mary Lou is also survived by dear daughter-in-law Susan Barnes; devoted friend, Lois Cooprider; and special niece Jeanne Pittman; as well as numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. MaryLou was an encouraging and kind mother-in-law beloved by Jane, Susan and Cara. Visitation will be Friday, May 17th at Smith & Kernke N May Funeral Home from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.Services will be at 10:00 am on May 18th, Mary Lou's 97th birthday, at St Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, 127 NW 7th Street, Oklahoma City. Interment will be at 3pm, May 18 at Memorial Park Cemetery, Tulsa. Donations can be made to PEO International, Program for Continuing Education, 3700 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50312.