Margaret Barnett Rose passed away peacefully on November 22, 2025, at the age of 78.
Born in Tarboro, North Carolina, she grew up in Roanoke Rapids, graduating from Roanoke Rapids High School as part of the class of 1964.
She attended Meredith College in Raleigh and worked for over 30 years as Risk Manager at Halifax Regional Medical Center in Roanoke Rapids, where she was deeply committed to ensuring that each patient received safe, compassionate care.
She also cared profoundly for all the hospital staff and especially cherished leading the Risk Department and getting to work for years alongside so many devoted colleagues.
Margaret enjoyed being engaged in her community.
As a lifelong member of Rosemary Baptist Church, she served in a number of ministries, including directing and teaching elementary and youth Sunday School programming, as well as participating in the adult handbell choir.
She was an active member of the Roanoke Rapids High School Band Boosters, chaperoning countless trips to regional marching band competitions, cheering on her daughter in the color guard, and coordinating an Eastern North Carolina Band Festival, an event that drew dozens of high school marching bands from across the southeast to Roanoke Rapids.
Margaret inherited her mother’s love of gardening, tending a yard full of azaleas, irises, and camellias, along with a porch full of hanging baskets of ferns and geraniums. She inherited a love of travel from her father, taking her daughters on numerous road trips, and traveling abroad to Italy, France, and Cuba.
A loving mother, Margaret supported her daughters’ interests in the arts, including color guard, piano, and choral groups. Among her greatest joys was being “Nana” to her twin grandsons, with whom she shared a close and loving bond.
Margaret was preceded in death by her parents, James Thomas Barnett and Mary Vanice Laughlin Barnett of Roanoke Rapids, NC and her brother-in-law John Dowdle of Palm Beach, Florida.
She is survived by her daughters Mary Rose of Charlotte, NC and Rebecca Rose O’Connor (and her husband Devin O’Connor) of Washington, DC; her grandsons Thomas and Desmond O’Connor of Washington, DC; her sister and brother-in-law Ross and Steve Oglesbee of Carrboro, NC; her sister Elizabeth Dowdle of Palm Beach, FL; her brother James Barnett, Jr., of Roanoke Rapids, NC; and her cousins, nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, and many other loving friends.
A Funeral Service will be held at Rosemary Baptist Church on December 4, 2025, at 1:30 p.m. with Rev. Dr. Layne Wallace officiating. Interment will follow at Cedarwood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to ECU Health Foundation (North Hospital), P.O. Box 8489, Greenville, NC 27835 (www.ecuhealthfoundation.org) or Rosemary Baptist Church, 936 Jackson Street, Roanoke Rapids, NC 27870.
Arrangements are under the careful direction of Wrenn Funeral Home, Roanoke Rapids.