Creighton University

The Dr. John W. and Janet M. Barnes Family Endowed Scholarship Fund

It was hard – no, maybe impossible – for a day to pass by in the Barnes household in Missouri Valley, Iowa, without mention of Creighton University.

Not only was Dad a Creighton alumnus of the School of Medicine, but, according to son Tim, BA’89, of Omaha, at one point there were five Barnes children attending Creighton at the same time!

“No wonder they talked about Creighton at the dinner table!” Tim chuckles in remembrance.

Their father, Dr. John W. Barnes, for many years served as a family practice physician in their hometown, which lies in the fertile floodplain of Harrison County, about 22 miles north of Omaha. And all nine of the Barnes children grew up in the Iowa community.

Today, seven of the children are Creighton alumni, and there are three grandchildren attending Creighton – continuing the family tradition. (In addition, at least one grandchild, seven-month-old Patrick, Tim’s and wife Liz’s youngest child, bears the middle name “Creighton.”)

Growing up in such a “Creighton Blue” family might have posed some understandable pressure on everyone in the family to go to college there.

But that’s not quite how it worked in the Barnes family.

Creighton, though part of family life, was more of a presence than a pressure, Tim recalls. “Creighton and St. John’s were always a part of family life,” he says. “And you always knew Creighton as a great quality, faith-based education.”

Probably, in the Barnes family, St. John’s was the symbol of Creighton. “My parents were both from Omaha, and they grew up going to St. John’s,” Tim says. “My mom (Janet) even went to Mass the morning she was married,” only to return a few hours later dressed as a bride.

Sporting events were a natural draw, too, for the Barnes children as they grew. “We probably kept the bookstore open when we’d get our Bluejay clothes,” he laughs.

Among the traits the family inculcated most from Creighton came through the Jesuits, Tim says. These were “compassion and the focus on giving to others.

“Those were the two qualities that my parents lived by and we learned early, especially compassion.”

As the family practice physician in town, Dr. Barnes never forgot that there was always the need to give back – not just through his family practice clinic in Missouri Valley and the surrounding communities but to the Creighton community, as well.

Tim says he feels that spirit has inspired his parents’ and family’s gift to Creighton to take the form of a scholarship fund.

“My father is a very humble person; he’s the most humble person I know,” Tim says. “He never wants the camera on him. That’s what God wants us to be and what the Jesuits want us to be, too. The scholarship lets students know that no matter what you’ve been given you use your gifts for others.

“Creighton has a special place in my parents’ hearts.” 

Note: Dr. and Mrs. Barnes' children made a gift to the renovation of St. John's Church in honor of their parents' 50th wedding anniversary – recognizing the very place where the couple shared their vows.