Barbara Maxine Donohoe

Barbara Maxine McPherson Donohoe passed away Monday Oct 12, 2020 in Depoe Bay, Oregon at the age of 82. She was born in San Francisco, CA and grew up mostly in the Los Angeles area. Her parents were Elinore Jane Chamberlin Averill and Maxwell Bingham McPherson. Following her parents' divorce, her mother remarried and had twins. Her father remarried and following a daughter, also had twins. As a child Barbara lived in CA often spending summers with her father's family in CA & WA. Barbara attended Washington State University in Pullman graduating in Political Science, a field that interested her all of her life as evidenced by her many years as a volunteer for the elections office where she helped at the polls and counted ballots. She also assisted with various democratic political candidates. The first major job in her career path was with the IRS in Seattle. She met her future husband Dennis John Donohoe during a tax audit that she was conducting with him. He didn't get his deductions but he did get the girl, a cute curly red-head with freckles and a figure as well as a smart, progressive young woman. He was the only man she ever married, although she married him twice. Together they had three children in the early 60's namely Catherine Ann, Michael Thomas, and Susan Jane. She was a grandmother and great-grandmother to many progeny. Barbara purchased a home in the downtown area of Vancouver, Washington that her grandparents had built in 1919 in the historic Hough neighborhood. She lived in the Craftsman style home approximately from 1966-2016, 50 years. During this time she worked for the Internal Revenue Service in Portland, Oregon, the Dept. of Energy during the oil and gas shortages of the early 70's, and later doing accounting, bookkeeping and taxes for companies such as H&R Block, Columbia Bookkeeping, the Sheriff's Dept., as well as for private individuals. A lifelong fan of the public library, Barbara enjoyed reading and learning. Her favorite genre was mysteries and she could be described as a voracious reader as she always had a novel at her side. She loved learning, and languages was one of her favorite subjects. As a middle-aged student at Clark College she built on her childhood studies in Latin, taking courses in Spanish, German, French, Japanese, and Russian. Barbara enjoyed traveling and often took trips to visit family or went on vacations with family members, demonstrating an adventurous spirit. She loved playing board games or cards. She always liked a challenge and enjoyed trivia games, watching Jeopardy, crosswords and logic puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, and particularly enjoyed family history and building on her mothers' genealogy work. Privately she challenged herself even in her last years with reading and memorizing the Almanac, countries and their capitals, details about every every US president, collective group names of birds, and studying the current voter's pamphlet. Barbara was curious about the world around her, had an attitude of 'make the best of it', and did it all with a wry sense of humor. Barbara Donohoe is buried next to her husband at Evergreen Memorial Gardens in Vancouver, Washington.

Barbara Maxine Donohoe

April 15, 1938 - October 12, 2020