Barbara E. Frye, a lifetime health care advocate and recent Yachats City Council member, died Thursday, Nov. 21 in her home after a nine-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 71.
Frye was born April 7, 1948, in Klamath Falls. She lived in Portland, Seattle and Sandy before moving to Yachats in 2010.
She was a member of the last graduating class of Providence Academy Vancouver in 1966. She attended Portland Community College and Southern Oregon State College and became a registered nurse in 1976. She worked as a staff nurse and charge nurse in surgery and oncology units, first in Medford and then in Portland. She became nurse manager of surgical specialties and oncology at Oregon Health Sciences University in 1980, a role she held for seven years before moving to Seattle.
In Seattle she worked at Harborview and Virginia Mason medical centers before moving to the Washington State Nurses Association. For 20 years she led labor activities to improve the working conditions for registered nurses and their patients. She was inducted into the WSNA Nurses Hall of Fame in 2016. She was a founding member of the National Federation of Nurses and served on its advisory board.
Frye authored a book, “One Strong Voice, the History of the Labor Movement for Registered Nurses in Washington State,” which was published just weeks before her death.
Frye was a strong supporter of women and LGBT rights, a CASA volunteer, and served five years on the board of the Lincoln Community Health Council, which oversees health and medical programs in Lincoln County.
Frye and Bette Perman began their lives together in 1980. They bought property in Yachats in 1995, built a vacation house in 1998 and moved here permanently in 2010. They were married in Yachats on Sept. 22, 2014.
Frye was a member of the city’s Parks and Commons Commission before being elected in 2014 to a four-year term on the Yachats City Council. She finished her term in January, one month before her cancer diagnosis.
Gerald Stanley was mayor during Frye’s term on the City Council and was president of the county health council when he enticed her to join it. He praised Frye’s work ethic, willingness to ask questions, conduct research, and her passion for issues.
“She was always well prepared, both on the City Council and the county’s health council,” he said. Stanley said her nursing and union background “played an important role” in the health council’s decisions.
Stanley said he treasured their “long, long conversations” on topics ranging from politics to the Catholic Church while driving to and from Newport for health council meetings.
“We had so much in common,” he said. “We both saw the world very politically.”
In addition to her wife, Bette, Frye is survived by a sister, Carolyn Hainisch of Bend; two sisters-in-law, and four nieces and nephews. A brother, Dennis P. Frye, died earlier.
Perman said their families are grateful “to everyone who came by for visits and helped with rides, dog-care, yard work, and meals. This is appreciated more than you could know.”
Perman also thanked the staff at OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, Samaritan Pastega Cancer Center, and Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital oncology department. “They all provided excellent care during Barbara’s difficult illness,” she said.
A celebration of life will be 2-4 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Yachats Commons.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Barbara Frye Memorial Fund c/o the Washington State Nurses Foundation, 575 Andover Park West, Suite 101, Tukwila, Wash., 98188