Jeanne K. Barnett, a summer visitor to the Vineyard for the better part of 50 years, died from complications of peritonitis on July 15 at Inova Mt. Vernon Hospital in Alexandria, Va., near her home. She was 82.

At the suggestion of her sister, Nora Piore, of New York and Chilmark, Jeanne and David Barnett visited and fell in love with the Vineyard. They brought their three children and extended family to the Island for decades of glorious vacations. Through the years Jeanne continued to cherish her sunsets on Menemsha, visits to Larsen’s, and ritual breakfasts up at Aquinnah, as well as introducing her granddaughters to the beauty and peace of the Island.

In a 50-year career as a social policy analyst, writer and editor, Mrs. Barnett focused on training and employment efforts designed to improve the working lives of women and young adults. She was a member of the Labor Department task force that devised the Neighborhood Youth Corps and Job Corps and also served as deputy director of the Neighborhood Youth Corps. Both programs grew out of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.

Later, she was named to the senior staff of the Labor Department’s assistant secretary for policy, evaluation and research, where she directed a number of the department’s submissions to the White House. She and a colleague, Jocelyn Gutchess, developed a program designed to train and place stay-at-home women ready to join the workforce as counselors in various anti-poverty programs.

Mrs. Barnett was born in Manhattan and grew up in Brooklyn. She graduated from Packer Collegiate Institute and received her undergraduate degree in anthropology and political science, with honors, from Cornell University in 1946. She was the recipient of a Rockefeller Fellowship as an intern with the National Institute of Public Affairs, a program designed to encourage careers in government.

In the early 1950s, she moved to Richmond, Va., where her husband was an editor for the Richmond News Leader and where she was information director of the Richmond Red Cross. She also wrote freelance articles for the News Leader and the Richmond Times-Dispatch and, after moving to the Washington area, wrote for the Washington Star and Women’s National News Service.

After retiring from the Labor Department in 1982, she researched and wrote monographs on workplace issues. They were published by Work in America Institute, a research organization.

Her husband, David L. Barnett, died in 1995. A son, Randy Barnett, died in 2007.

Survivors include two daughters, Megan Barnett of Alexandria and Janie Barnett of Brooklyn, daughter in law Dr. Nancy K. Barnett of Falmouth, and grandchildren Sara Barnett, Kate Barnett, and Adrienne Hanson.

A memorial service to celebrate Jeanne’s life will be held on Sept. 20 at the Mt. Vernon Unitarian Church, 1909 Windmill Lane, Alexandria, VA 22307.

Donations can be made in her name to Doctors Without Borders, International Rescue Committee, and the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria.