Barbara Jean Temple

1924  –  2022

Barbara Jean Temple

On January 19, 2022, Barbara Jean Temple’s family said goodbye to their much-loved mom and grandmom.  She was 97 years old.

Barbara was born in Seattle in 1924 and raised happily in the then rural Hunts Point area of Bellevue.  She attended a one-room schoolhouse for elementary school and later took a ferry daily to Garfield High School in Seattle.  She was a student at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA, and Pembroke College (part of Brown Univ.) in Providence RI.  She graduated with honors and was a Phi Beta Kappa.  At Whitman she was a member of the Tri-Delta sorority.

Barbara met her first husband, Bjarne Qvale, at Whitman and her son, Jon, was born shortly after their graduation.  In 1949 Barbara divorced and moved to London for 7 years where she worked as a secretary with the US Air Force. There she met and married a USAF officer, Walter French.  As a military family they were frequently reassigned, living near Washington DC twice, and in Hawaii twice.  While in DC, Barbara worked as a secretary to Senator Warren G. Magnuson of Washington.  In Hawaii she worked again as a secretary with the USAF.  In 1970, Barbara and Walt retired and settled in the Seattle area.  Barbara was happily married to Walt for 25 years until his death in 1980.  In 1987 Barbara married Robert Temple.  Barbara and Bob were together for over 15 years, until his death in 2001.  They spent many happy retirement years traveling, playing golf, and keeping close to their families. In 1990, Barbara and Bob moved into Emerald Heights in Redmond, where she lived for 30 years until her death.

Barbara was blessed by a loving family and a great many friends. People were drawn to her by her optimism, warmth, humor, and open nature.  She lived her life as a wonderful example of how full a life can be when one is open to life’s possibilities.  She instilled these virtues in her family.

Barbara leaves her son Jon French and his children Sarah and Nathaniel, and niece and nephews Darcy, Paul, and Dana Leach.  With her marriage to Bob Temple, Barbara was blessed to have a second family including his children, Martyn Temple (Barbara), Barbara Temple Ayres (Tom) and Debbie Temple Brown (Doug), together with multiple wonderful grandchildren and great grandchildren.

In view of the current pandemic, a memorial service will be held in the summer of 2022.  In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the most meaningful charity of the donor’s choosing.