Barbara Jane Tupper

Barbara Jane (Olson) Tupper, age 82, of Silver Lake, NH, passed away peacefully after a long illness, on October 9, 2023 surrounded by family. She was the beloved wife of Charles W. Tupper III with whom she had been married for 59 years. Barbara was the daughter of the late Robert V. and E. Louise (Lendall) Olson formerly of Silver Lake, NH and Attleboro, MA.

Barbara was born on June 17, 1941, in Pawtucket, RI. She grew up in Attleboro, MA where she lived with her parents at 33 Ashton Road until leaving for college after her junior year of high school. She attended the University of New Hampshire and graduated with a B.A. in French in 1962.

She met her husband, Charles “Chuck” at a roadside diner in 1961 in West Ossipee, NH (near the Yankee Smokehouse at the junction of routes 16 and 25). Their first song was “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini”. They were married at St. John’s Church in Attleboro, MA on December 21, 1963. They lived in Medfield, MA for over 50 years until they sold their home and moved permanently to Silver Lake, NH in 2019.

After college, Barbara taught French at the Dover-Sherborn Regional High School in Massachusetts from 1962-65. After leaving teaching, she worked at home raising three kids and continued to be active in the community and in the school system serving on the Medfield School Board for many years. Barbara was recognized with the Governors Award in 1988 for making significant contributions to education in Massachusetts.

Time with her children and grandchildren is what she cherished most. Her favorite pastimes were holidays and vacations with family and friends and spending quality time at Silver Lake. She absolutely loved to travel having been to many places around the world - one of her favorite places being Switzerland. She regularly opened her home to foreign exchange students to provide not only cultural opportunities but fun-filled activities as well.

She was a great storyteller and could reminisce all night long about her many experiences and the people she and her family had met throughout her long life. Her adventurous spirit was shown in many ways, whether taking flying lessons, water skiing, horseback riding or white water rafting with the family. She was kind and generous, always willing to lend a compassionate ear to those in need and even providing food and shelter to struggling students.  She freely shared her vast wealth of knowledge with anyone who asked, from recommending restaurants and activities to providing guidance on financial matters.

She is survived by her husband Chuck and her three children Robert and his longtime girlfriend Kim of West Ossipee, NH; Kristine and her husband Bob Nippert of Salem, NH and their 3 children - Brian, Katy, and Chris; and Barbara and her husband Jon Ingalls of Windham, ME and their three children - Kevin, Diane and Scott.

SERVICES:  A Celebration of Life for family and friends will be held at a future date.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, P.O. Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD 21741 or www.michaeljfox.org.