BARBARA SILVA FAIRBANKS RADDEN WALKER

1917 - 2014

WALKER, Barbara Silva Fairbanks Radden Died peacefully March 9, 2014, just weeks from her 97th birthday. She was born April 23, 1917 in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. The youngest child of Dr. Arthur Willard Fairbanks and Edythe Clarke Fairbanks of West Roxbury. Sister to the late Jonathon Fairbanks and the late Edythe Fairbanks Pane of Watertown, MA. Her brother-in-law Philip Pane, of Watertown, MA and sister-in-law Louise Ferazzi of Rockport, MA, survive her. Her six children, Edward Chester Radden Walker, Arthur Fairbanks Radden, Wallace Chester Walker III, William "Rob" Walker, and Tansy Walker survive her. In addition, she was a loving stepmom to Beverly Walker Melvin. She was grandmother to eighteen grandchildren and great grandmother to five great grandchildren. She spent her summer vacations in a rustic log cabin on Newfound Lake, NH, which was built by hand by her parents. The cabin had none of the luxuries we enjoy today. She had to carry her own water, cook on a wood burning stove, and had no electricity or indoor plumbing. Barbara knew early on how to travel with simplicity and enjoy citizens of any station in life. Her childhood was during the roaring twenties and the Great Depression, which ended the employment of her nanny and "her best childhood friend," "Flo". Barbara graduated from Girls Latin School, Boston, MA in 1935. She continued the tradition that life was fulfilled by continuing to educate oneself formally and casually via college degrees and travel. Both were lifelong pursuits. After World War Two her first marriage ended to Chester Edward Radden. She then moved to New York City working as a seamstress for a major design house. She then returned to Boston to start her own dressmaking business to support her two children. Barbaras college degrees and her travels began when she and her second husband, the late Wallace Chester Walker of Gloucester, MA, lived in Canton, MA. As a mother of twin boys and a daughter, all three under age four, she started a pre-school in Canton during the 1950s and was one of the pioneers to use the Montessori method. To grow the school as a business she obtained the towns first private Kindergarten school license. Her higher education began at age 45 when she pursued her first degree at Bridgewater State Teachers College. She then received a Masters Degree from Boston State College. She continued her graduate studies toward a PHD at Johns Hopkins University for International Studies in Bologna, Italy. When she retired from teaching she was a fervent advocate of Special Education in the Boston Public Schools, well before its general adoption. After her children had grown, she moved to the West and lived for many years in Colorado. There in her late eighties she was in a car accident, which broke her neck. This put her in bed for eight months with a "halo" brace. Showing her tenacious nature, Barbara fully recovered and returned to her life as an active senior. She swam, exercised, and ballroom danced herself to robust health. She enjoyed "bottoms up" gardening on her hands and knees and continually grew award-winning flower gardens. Her extensive travels continued when she traveled to China, Spain, Netherlands, Egypt, England, France, and India. It was rarely her style to travel first class. There were many briefer trips, such as a memorable train ride through Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey that undoubtedly was not first class since the seat across from her was occupied by a pig. A prolific letter writer, so typical of her generation, she regularly wrote and called her many contacts throughout the world. Former students from both private and public kindergartens grew into friends. Barbara networked socially decades before Facebook and did so profusely and steadfastly that we, her family, have little hope of contacting them all. We very much hope the delay between the publication of her obituary and her life celebration party will provide enough time for word to spread to as many of them as possible. Please help us get out the word about her celebration party. We hope to see you, three days after she would have been 97 years of age; on April 26, 2014 at The Marriott Quincy from 1pm-5pm. Barbaras wish was to celebrate her life with a party. If you would like to attend, please email: barbarasilvawalker@gmail.com