By Nancy Gier, Special to the Tribune

After stints as an attorney in both the public and private sectors, Alison O'Hara Barasa joined the family business and went on to become the first female chairman of Follett Corp. in its nearly 140-year history.

Mrs. Barasa joined Follett as senior counsel in 1999 and worked in litigation, contracts, employment and benefits. The company supplies educational materials to schools and is based in River Grove.

Mrs. Barasa became Follett's chairman in 2011 and gained a reputation as a catalyst for change and an innovator in moving the company forward in digital content and technology, despite battling breast cancer, colleagues said.

"Her tenure will be viewed as a pivot point in the company's next 140 years," said Mary Lee Schneider, Follett president and CEO.

Mrs. Barasa, 50, died of complications from breast cancer Saturday, July 20, at Midwest Palliative Care in Glenview, according to her husband, James Barasa. She was a resident of Glenview.

Schneider sat on Follett's board with Mrs. Barasa for more than 10 years.

"She pushed us to look at everything differently. She invited discussion and she felt that the best decisions were made through conversation," Schneider said. "She challenged how the family was involved with the business. There were no sacred cows with Alison."

Mrs. Barasa also served as Follett's acting president and CEO after her cousin Charles Follett retired in 2012. Schneider took over as president and CEO this year.

"She was a force of nature and a force to be reckoned with," Schneider said. "It's amazing what she was able to accomplish when she was fighting for her life."

Mrs. Barasa was born May 9, 1963, in Oak Park to Ariel Follett O'Hara and J. Philip O'Hara. A graduate of Oak Park and River Forest High School, she went on to receive a bachelor's degree from Colorado College and a law degree from the University of Colorado Law School.

After returning to the Chicago area, Mrs. Barasa began her career as an assistant state's attorney with the Cook County state's attorney's office. In 1991 she became Illinois assistant attorney general.

After working for a regulatory commission for two years, she entered the private sector, where she did appellate work during the 1990s, according to her husband. She also was an adjunct professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Law for two years.

"I don't think she planned on joining the family business, but her family reached out to her when there was an opening in the legal department," her husband said. "She was very good at what she did. She knew everyone in the company by name, from the warehouse floor to the executive suite.

"She was a fighter and we expected her to be around a lot longer," Barasa said. "She worked until the very end."

Mrs. Barasa met her husband while on vacation in Sicily. They married in June 1999 and lived in Evanston and Wilmette before settling in Glenview 10 years ago.

In addition to her husband and parents, Mrs. Barasa is survived by her daughter, Amanda; twin sons Trevor and Tucker; two stepdaughters and a stepson; brothers Keith and John O'Hara; and a sister, Julie O'Hara.

Services have been held.