Barbara Dudley-Thompson, known as “Bobsy,” passed away on Christmas Day in her home in Edgecomb following a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She is survived by her husband of 63 years, Valmar; and three children, Kit, Bruce, and Jean; grandchildren, Lily and Alice; and brother, Glenn.
Bobsy was born in Rutland, Vt., grew up in New Hampshire, and attended undergraduate studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she met her husband, Val. Together, they shared a long life of travel and adventure involving skiing and rock-climbing, and later – after moving to Maine – sailing and kayaking along the coast.
Bobsy’s first career was in academia; she taught comparative literature, creative writing, and women’s studies for many years at the University of Maine.
Much of Bobsy’s life revolved around giving back – to the community, to the land, and to social causes ranging from juvenile justice to anti-war efforts, and women’s and minority rights.
She was a tenacious advocate for the poor, serving as chaplain and supervisor for the Maine Sea Coast Mission’s inland ministries in Washington County, where she established food pantries and a homeless shelter for women and children and worked as a crisis counselor for a rural domestic violence program. This work led her to the Andover Newton Theological Seminary, where she was granted a Doctor of Ministry degree in 1997. She went on to become an ordained minister.
Bobsy worked for years as a pastoral counselor in Edgecomb until her retirement, focusing on bereavement and the integration of the spiritual and the psychological.
Environmental advocates for many years, Bobsy and Val spearheaded local land conservation efforts for Clough Point on Westport Island and, much later, donated land through an easement as part of local River-Link, connecting two major nature preserves in Edgecomb and nearby Newcastle, allowing future generations to freely walk the wooded corridors of undisturbed woods and trails for miles, into perpetuity.
Writer, reader, athlete, activist, feminist, teacher, adventurer, counselor, wife, and mother – Bobsy was a force of nature herself. She will be dearly missed.
An outdoor memorial service will be held in early summer 2025. In the meantime, the family suggests that in lieu of flowers donations be made in her memory to the Alzheimer’s Association.
