Mary Rose Barrows, 94, of South Bristol, died peacefully on Oct. 21 at Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta after a short illness.
Born Mary Roselyn Reichard, to Wade and Olive Reichard in Troy, N.Y., she attended the Emma Willard School before her family moved to Rochester, N.Y. She then went to Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass. After graduation, she served as a social worker in the Massachusetts prison system. She did social work in various places throughout her adult life; she also was a secretary at Yale University’s Department of Geology, a kindergarten teacher, and an activist on educational issues.
Mary Rose’s husband, Walter L. Barrows, Jr., served during WWII in the U.S. Coast Guard and was an executive with Sears, Roebuck and Co., which required the family occasionally to change residence, from Rochester to Oil City, Penn., to Springfield, Mass., to Long Island, N.Y., to Wayne, N.J., and then, in retirement, to South Bristol. He died there in 1967 after a long illness.
After settling in South Bristol, Mary Rose worked as a secretary at the University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center during its early years. She was active in South Bristol affairs and in supporting Mount Holyoke College as well as the Democratic Party. For over 30 years, she wintered in Gulfport, Fla.
Mary Rose was respected as a forceful personality by all who knew her. A wonderful story-teller and letter-writer, she was the repository of family history. Her devotion to family extended to a succession of pets over the years; a dog-lover, she was particularly fond of Nip and Tuck. She will be remembered for the breadth of her interests and the sharpness of her mind. Alert and engaged to the very end, she was reading a book about Mount Katahdin when hospitalized.
She is survived by her long-time companion, Edward D. Winters of Santa Rosa, Cal.; two sons and their wives, Walter and Patricia Barrows of Alexandria, Va., and Timothy and Ruth Barrows of Newtonville, Mass.; four nieces and nephews; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Private interment Mon., Nov. 23 at the Barrows family plot in Stamford, Conn. Memorial service will be held during the summer of 2010 in South Bristol.
Condolences for the family may be expressed at www.StrongHancock.com.
Arrangements are under the direction and care of the Strong-Hancock Funeral Home, 612 Main St., Damariscotta.