Alice Whitecotton Barry

Alice (Cita) Whitecotton Barry May 4, 1923 - August 1, 2018 La Jolla Alice (Cita) Whitecotton Barry passed away peacefully in her home on the morning of August 1, 2018, after a brave struggle with lung cancer. She was born to Jay Arthur Whitecotton and Helen Tiebout Whitecotton in Valparaiso, Chile in 1923. The family returned to New York City when Cita was six and settled in Southport, CT. They relocated to Paris, France when she was in her early teens. While in Paris, Cita was educated in French schools. She returned to the United States to finish at The Masters School, Dobbs Ferry, NY and Smith College, where she was nominated a Sophia Smith scholar and elected to Phi Beta Kappa.During the war years, Cita served as a Red Cross Nurse's Aide at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City and Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, MA.Cita worked at John Wiley and Sons Publishers in New York as an advertising copywriter and book jacket designer before marrying Ensign James Halford Barry, USN, her husband of 69 years. They were married in Paris, where her family had returned after the war. Cita followed her husband's ship around post-war Italy and Southern France before shipping home on the SS Marine Falcon, a converted Liberty Ship with a load of British war brides.During the next 30 years of Navy life, Cita and Jim made homes in Norfolk, VA; Annapolis, MD; New London, CT; Key West, FL; Monterey, CA; Kailua, Hawaii; Paris, France; Newport, RI; Virginia Beach, VA; San Diego and San Francisco. During one of Jim's Western Pacific deployments, Cita packed up her children and sailed across the Pacific on a military transport to Japan. She rented a tea house on an estate in Hayama where the family lived local style for five months.Cita loved Hawaii, and engaged in numerous volunteer activities, including teaching art to children at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, and bringing live theatre to elementary schools throughout the State, particularly to the outer islands. San Diego became the family's permanent home after Jim's retirement. Cita and Jim became avid campers, exploring the wilderness in Nevada, Utah and Idaho. They also traveled to far away China, Russia, Tibet, Africa and South America. After chartering in Tahiti, the Seychelles and the Bay of Islands, Honduras, sailing became a passion. Cita bought her dream boat, Gypsy Queen, a custom-made Bristol Channel Cutter. Cita and Jim made many trips to the Channel Islands and sailed the coast of Baja California and the Sea of Cortez.Cita loved gardening and planted fruit trees everywhere she lived. She also enjoyed painting and sketching and was an accomplished pianist. She was a volunteer for Meals on Wheels for a number of years, served two terms on the Athenaeum Board of Trustees and worked briefly as a real estate agent and as a bookseller at John Cole's Book Shop. She was a member of the Junior League of San Diego, the Zoological Society, the San Diego Museum of Art and the Athenaeum.Cita was predeceased by her husband in 2016. She leaves behind her five children, Susan Barry Hooper (Stephen), Charlotte Barry-Williams (Dirk), Edith Blinn Barry, James Halford Barry, Jr. and Peter Craik Barry (Nellie), four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.A Memorial Service will be held on September 8, 2018, at 11:00 a.m. at the chapel of St. James by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in La Jolla. Please sign the guest book online at legacy.com/obituaries/ lajollalight .