Nellie L. Straw Barnes, graduated from Wheaton College in 1908 with a B.A. in English. Other studies during the period 1899-1908 included Prep-Scientific, Conservatory, Music and Art. She was born in Wheaton, Illinois on April 24, 1886 to Isabel and Darien Austin Straw, long-time Wheaton College professor. She married Guy L. Barnes in Wheaton on November 10, 1917 and shared in his school and church life for the next 50 years. She taught school for many years at Edgeley, ND; LeMoyne Normal, Memphis, TN; and Billings Polytechnic. She attended University Congregational Church, where her late husband, Rev. Guy L. Barnes (d. 12/10/1967), served as pastor from 1943-1959. She died on April 4, 1985 in Missoula, Montana and was survived by a son, daughter, sister, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.