Margaret Ann Mauk Barnett

1933 - 2025

Margaret Ann (Peggy) Mauk Barnett
04/03/1933 - 05/02/2025
Margaret (Peggy) Mauk Barnett passed away peacefully at the age of ninety-two on May 2, 2025, with family by her side. A beautiful and caring soul, she was a loving and deeply loved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, cousin, and, to so very many, friend.
Born on April 3, 1933, in Austin, Texas, Peggy was the firstborn child of Raymond Sneed Mauk and Winnie Davis King Mauk. She and her sister, Carol, shared an idyllic childhood growing up in Houston and spending summers in the Texas Hill Country, swimming in the Guadalupe River, riding her horse Ribbon, or sitting with family and friends on the porch at Holiday Hill.
Peggy graduated from San Jacinto High School and went on to college at Rice University, where she excelled academically and made friendships she treasured for the rest of her life. During her freshman year she met and fell in love with fellow freshman, Edward William (Bill) Barnett. Peggy and Bill were married the night after graduation and immediately moved to Austin where Peggy taught third grade, supporting Bill as he attended The University of Texas Law School. Her teaching career was cut short when their daughter, Ann, arrived in 1957. After Bill graduated from law school, Bill joined the Baker & Botts law firm, and he and Peggy moved to Houston. In 1961, they welcomed their second child, Ned.
Peggy brought incredible energy and a positive outlook to everything she did. She was a wonderful mother to Ann and Ned, supporting them in all of their activities, volunteering at their schools, and urging them on with positive encouragement. She assumed the role of grandmother with the same level of enthusiasm. Living around the corner from her grandchildren while they were growing up, she made her home a second home to them. She was a tireless supporter of their dreams and played an active role in their development. She was, in the words of her granddaughter, a force for good in their lives. When great-grandchildren arrived, she felt so blessed that she was able to get to know them as well.
In addition to family, Peggy was a leader in the community, supporting and leading many organizations that she cared deeply about. She chaired the board of UTHealth Houston and founded the PARTNERS organization to support the nursing school. She was also involved at Rice University with the Friends of Fondren and Shepherd School of Music and at St. Martin's Episcopal Church with the Hope and Healing Center. She was a member of St. Martin's Church, her spiritual home, where she was active in the Altar Guild and taught Sunday School with Bill for many years.
Peggy was devoted to Bill during their nearly 70 years of marriage and partnered with him in every sense of word. While Bill served as managing partner at Baker and Botts and then Board Chair at Rice University, Peggy was by his side, his most important supporter and valued thought partner. It also helped that she loved people and never met a stranger. Her bright, engaging, personality and infectious energy played a key role in the development of their most meaningful relationships and friendships.
Left behind to cherish Peggy's memory are her husband, Bill Barnett, her daughter, Ann Stern, and her son, Ned Barnett. Remembering with Ann is her husband, Karl Stern, along with their son Carter, his wife, Beth Taylor, and their children, Fitzgerald and Nathaniel; and their daughter, Margaret.
A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, May 14, at 2 p.m. at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, 717 Sage Road, with a reception to follow in Bagby Parish Hall.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to UTHealth Houston or PARTNERS, organizations that were dear to Peggy.