Norma Barnett, wife of Larry Barnett, mother of Zoe Barnett and Deirdre Campbell, Grandmother of Isabelle Sinha, Warren and Mira Woerner, sister of Helen and brother Bill Marsh and Aunt to their children Jamie, Bessie and Katie, died suddenly on Thursday, May 22, 2025, just shy of her eighty-first birthday.
Norma and Larry were together for fifty years. They met when Zoe and Deirdre were but four years old and attending the San Francisco Preschool and discovered that they lived just one block away from each other on Dolores Street in San Francisco. Larry’s ex-wife suggested Norma “look up” Larry. At the time, Larry was twenty-seven and Norma thirty-one years old (see photo).
Norma did reach out, and invited Larry and Zoe to come over for dinner with her and Deirdre. While the kids played, Norma and Larry talked about morality, and what creates a good society. It was a discussion that continued for fifty years.
Norma was born in Brigham, Utah to Richard and Mary Marsh. Richard went on to become a university history professor at Hamlin College in Minnesota and Mary became the Assistant to the head of the Mississippi River’s Hydroelectric facility in Minneapolis. Norma grew up in a home filled with conversation about the world and the deeper meaning of events. It fueled her lifelong curiosity about understanding people and her tireless involvement in working to create a good society.
After graduating from Carleton College, Norma embarked on a career in social work, a career that lasted for most of her adult life. Starting in jobs in government welfare agencies, her naturally strong powers of empathy, great intelligence and powerful work ethic empowered her important role. Never seeking fame or fortune, her personal and professional satisfaction came from helping others.
Moving to San Francisco in the early 1970s, she worked at several social service agencies and eventually established a private practice providing therapy and counseling to people in need. She became a respected member of the therapeutic community in the East Bay where she established her practice, eventually becoming the President of the Psychotherapy Institute in Berkeley, where she spearheaded the organizational restructuring of the Institute to insure its own health.
Norma provided assisted countless clients over the decades, including people in Sonoma Valley and the North Bay after she and Larry moved to Sonoma in 1990 and purchased the Thistle Dew Bed and Breakfast. Only her clients know of the value and importance of her unsung help, into which she generously poured her heart and devotion.
After retiring at seventy years old, Norma became a valued member of the Congregational Church in Sonoma, where she continued to bring her care and passion to creating a good society. Deeply spiritual, Norma and her professional colleagues participated in a weekly meditation group for many years. Having poured her loving self into her family, her work, and her community in a life well-lived, her heart finally gave out and she died quickly and peacefully at Marin Health Hospital with her loving family at her side.
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