Barbara “Bobbi” Jo Belanger, 72, of West Bath, died peacefully with her family by her side at Mid Coast Hospital on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, after a brief illness.
She was born in Bath on Sept. 16, 1950, to John Edgar Belanger and Barbara Elizabeth Tasker. She learned to knit and crochet from Grammy Belanger, and how to sew from her mother. She went to West Bath School, Bath Junior High, and was a proud, second-generation graduate of Morse High School in 1968. She attended the University of Maine at Farmington and graduated in 1972 with a degree in home economics.
Her first teaching position was at Kingswood Regional High School in Wolfboro, N.H., where she taught for five years. She continued a long family tradition of attending, then teaching, at cosmetology school. In 1981, her only daughter, Anne “Annie” (Miller) Gilbertson, a third-generation graduate of Morse High School in 2000, was born in Portsmouth, N.H.
In 1986, they moved to Bath to be closer to Bobbi’s family. She taught at Wiscasset High School from 1986-1997 then at Brunswick High school from 1997-2007, where she retired after 35 years of teaching. Bobbi knew the secret success of teaching, “Don’t smile at the children until Christmas.” In July of 2007, her first granddaughter, Abigail, was born. Emma would follow in 2011 and Charlee Belle in 2013, all three girls are future fourth-generation graduates of Morse High School in Bath.
Bobbi greatly enjoyed sewing, cooking, and baking. In 2004, she purchased a long-arm quilting machine and would complete one, if not two or more, quilts for every member of her large, extended family. Not to mention the numerous customers that she had. Her most recent quilting projects were quilts with matching pillowcases for her granddaughters at Christmas. Her favorite places to quilt were at Mariner’s Compass Quilt Shop in Bath (now closed), with friends in Old Orchard Beach, and with friends in Bath.
Bobbi was predeceased by her parents, John and Barbara; two brothers-in-law, Benny Gilmore and Bob Bensing; and niece, Christine Ducharme. She leaves behind daughter, Anne, and her three daughters, Abigail, Emma, and Charlee Belle; brother, Richard Belanger and his wife, Jule Ann, of Arundel; sister, Susan Belanger and her husband, John Colombraro, of Brunswick; sister, Janice “Bootsie” Bensing, of West Bath; sister, Bette Gilmore, of West Bath; brother, John F. Belanger and his wife, Karyn, of West Bath; sister, Mary Bean and her husband, Skip, of Rochester, N.H.; brother, David Belanger and his wife, Patti, of Farmington; brother, Norman Rich and his wife, Linda Rapson, of Vancouver, B.C.; 16 nieces and nephews; 18 great-nieces and nephews, nine great-great-nieces and nephews; several cousins, friends, classmates, and teaching buddies. She also leaves behind her longtime companion, Rick Clarke.
Funeral arrangements are being made by David E. Desmond & Son Funeral Home in Bath. A mass of Christian burial will be held Saturday, May 20, 2023, at 1 p.m. at All Saints Parish, St. Mary’s Church, 144 Lincoln St., Bath, ME, 04530. Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery in Bath. A reception with light refreshments in the downstairs hall at St. Mary’s Church will begin at 3 p.m. All friends and family are welcome.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Bath Area Food Bank via P.O. Box 65, Bath ME 04530 in Bobbi’s name.
To share your thoughts and condolences with the family, please visit desmondfuneralhomes.com.
