Barbara M. Wilson Obituary (1921

BEDFORD-Barbara Marden Wilson, 89, a resident of Bedford, passed away Sunday November 21, 2010. She was the wife of Charles R. Wilson, who survives her and resides in Bedford. A former longtime resident of Lowell, she was a winter resident of Naples, FL and summer resident of Drakes Island, ME, and Kennebunkport, ME. Barbara was born on January 10, 1921, in Lowell, and was a daughter of the late Robert F. and Ella (Pote) Marden. Robert Marden and his brother Philip were the Publisher and Editor, respectively, of the Courier Citizen, a Lowell newspaper and commercial printing company founded by Barbara's grandfather, George A. Marden. She resided on Clark Road in the Belvidere section of Lowell until shortly after her 60th birthday. Barbara was a graduate of Rogers Hall (1938), and received her B.A. from Smith College (1942), where she majored in music and was a member of Alpha-Phi Kappa Psi, an honorary society for excellence in music and the arts. After her graduation from Smith, Barbara and her lifelong friend Frances "Frannie" Reilly of Lowell teamed to play duo pianos. They studied in New York and Tanglewood with Russian expatriates Luboshutz and Nemenoff, a leading piano duo team of that era. During World War II, the two performed for the (Lowell) Paint and Powder Club, at classical music concerts throughout New England, and at V.A. hospitals and U.S.O. events, where they volunteered to support the war effort. After seeing them perform at a Lowell Memorial Auditorium concert, Maestro Arthur Fiedler invited them to play as guest performers with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at a Boston Pops performance. Barbara married "Charlie" Wilson in 1948 and stepped back from her career in music to raise a family. She was a devoted mother, an accomplished homemaker and a gracious hostess. The Wilson house at 107 Clark Road became a second home to many of her children's friends, and a favorite destination for large numbers of relatives and family friends during the Holidays. Her warm personality endeared her to all. She was affectionately known as "Auntie Barbs" by her Wilson and Marden family nieces and nephews as well as by the children of her closest friends. Barbara's charming presence, her abundant home-cooked Holiday buffets and lots of music made Christmas Eve at the Wilson's an annual tradition for many in Greater Lowell. A talented artist, Barbara loved to paint in watercolors, pastels, and, most of all, in oils. For more than fifty years, she created beautiful portraits, landscapes and seascapes, and exhibited in various galleries. In addition to being a proud alumna of both Rogers Hall and Smith College, Barbara was a patron of the Whistler House Museum of Art (Lowell); a longtime member and former president of the Lowell Garden Club; a member of the Lowell Paint & Powder Club; and a longtime member (and a one-time Ladies Golf Champion) of Vesper Country Club (Tyngsboro, MA). Her long drives were legendary, and she scored three holes-in-one in the sixty years or more that she played the game. In addition to her husband, Charles, Barbara is survived by two sons; Robert Marden Wilson and his wife Marion Abrams, of North Hatfield, MA, and Frank Alexander (Alex) Wilson of Lowell, and a daughter, Dorothy (Dede) McQuillan and her husband Michael of Medfield, MA, four grandchildren; Dorothy-Elizabeth, Charles, Ella Rose, and Abigail Marden McQuillan, and step-granddaughter Olivia Abrams. She was the sister of the late Dorothy Elizabeth Fairbanks. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, November 30, from 4:00 to 7:00 pm at the BLAKE FUNERAL HOME, 24 Worthen St., CHELMSFORD. Funeral Services will be private. Interment in Lowell Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Whistler House Museum of Art, 243 Worthen Street, Lowell, MA 01852-1822 (www.whistlerhouse.org)