Barbara (Spiering) Iten

Eva Barbara (Spiering) Iten, at the age of 101, passed away peacefully at Northwest Hospital in Seattle on July 17, 2025. She was the youngest in a family of 6 brothers and sisters and a clan of 84 cousins, and she outlived them all. Along the way she enjoyed a full life of a religious vocation, college teaching and administration, a professional career, a loving 30-year marriage, and retirement in a Puget Sound view home. She was a pioneering model of determination and savvy for American women today.

Barb, called "Bub" by her close family, was born on a farm near North Plains, Oregon, to Charles and Lambertha Spiering. Her parents expected hard work from their children yet were compassionate supporters of needy neighbors and relatives. She attended a one-room elementary school and a high school in the small town of Hillsboro, then was recruited for and awarded a full-tuition scholarship at Marylhurst College near Portland at the age of 17. She was impressed by the strong, highly educated, independent Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary at the college, at a time when girls were expected to leave the farm at 18 and find a job in town. After graduation, she entered the Holy Names convent at St. Mary's Academy in Portland. After taking her vows, she taught in elementary and high schools and eventually at Marylhurst College. Her Order stressed that their staff have advanced degrees, so she earned a PhD in Educational Psychology at Fordham University in New York City.

In the 1970s, during a period of social upheaval from the Vietnam war, Marylhurst and many other small colleges suffered declining enrollments and rising costs. Her Order decided to close the college in 1974, 81 years after its founding. Dr. Spiering, who was the Academic Dean, was assigned the task of closing the school and changing its mission. In only 6 months, she succeeded in helping to develop a new academic program and finding new positions and schools for the faculty and students. Her unique achievements were recognized in an education magazine article titled The Resurrection of Marylhurst that highly praised the new program.

To this day, Barb has continued to receive gifts, visits, and phone calls from grateful former students living throughout the country. They want to thank her in person for her valuable lessons that have served them so well throughout their lives.

Barb left Marylhurst and the Holy Names Order in 1974 and moved to Seattle in 1975, where she joined the regional college accreditation board. During this time she traveled throughout the Pacific Northwest with a team of respected educators evaluating colleges and universities. In 1977 she married Laurence Iten, a long-time resident of the Wedgwood neighborhood in north Seattle, and they eventually settled in a beautiful home designed by Larry's architect son Greg in Suquamish, Washington.

After retirement, Barb became a wise and well-loved aunt to her nieces and nephews. Her dearest friend was her niece Jane (Rigert) Lamb, who reminded Barb of her mother and shared the same mindset with her about religion, relationships, and the afterlife. She also became the center of the Iten family as a beloved wife, generous stepmother, and dispenser of kindness and cuisine. She enjoyed many annual trips to her favorite fishing beaches on Kauai and regular visits to local casinos for excitement, but still took time to pick the sweet, succulent blackberries ripening in the woods.

As Barb's strength and independence slowly faded over the years, her stepdaughter, Kathy (Iten) Jacobson, became her primary helper and supporter. Barb often spoke of how thankful she was to have Kathy by her side.

A funeral will be held on Thursday, July 31, at 11:00 at Our Lady of the Lake Church, 3517 NE 89th Street, Seattle, WA, 98115, followed by a reception at the church hall.

In lieu of flowers, Barb has requested that donations be sent to the Holy Names Sisters in support of retired nuns.

503-675-7100

info@ snmjuson.org

Mail: Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary

U.S.-Ontario Administrative Centre

PO Box 398, Marylhurst, OR 97036