Barbara Todd

1924 - 2018

WEST CHESTERFIELD - Barbara (Jenkins) Todd, of West Chesterfield, passed away peacefully in her sleep at 93 years of age on Sunday, February 18, 2018. She was pre-deceased by her husband of 43 years, Orman Sr. in 1997. She spent her later years quietly in her community supported by caring people, family and friends. Born in 1924, Barbara grew up through the Depression years as a country girl in Ashfield, with her mother Isabelle Jenkins and her extended family. She loved to talk about her younger days, especially her school days at Sanderson Academy, which happened to be across the street from her childhood home. Barbara was always inquiring of what her grandchildren and great-grandchildren were up to in school.
As a young woman, Barbara helped on family farms and in local households until her marriage in 1953. Barbara told many stories of farm life including raising pigs and cooking cracklin', sugaring, haying and the sour smell of the cottage cheese her mother was making in the kitchen. She enjoyed shopping at Wilson's in Greenfield, and traveling by horse-drawn carriage down to Goshen and South Hadley visiting her aunts and cousins. After a courtship that began at a square dance in Ashfield, Orman and Barbara tied the knot and spent a romantic honeymoon at Niagara Falls in December.
Upon completion of her successful treatment for tuberculosis in 1954, Barbara volunteered as a Candy-striper at Cooley Dickinson Hospital. She and her husband joined the Chesterfield Grange and she was an active member of the Chesterfield Mothers' Club. For many years through the '70s and '80s, Barbara was Chesterfield's "Avon Lady," cleverly timing her calls to coincide with such events as Mrs. Curtis's morning doughnut-making. This was her special vocation in which she not only traveled in town visiting and chatting, but traveled to New York City to be awarded for her sales successes. Barbara also loved traveling with Orman to see the sites around the country, from Acadia National Park to the Grand Canyon to Muir Woods. In the late 80's, Barbara worked as a Clerk in the Smith College Printing Department until her retirement.
Family camping was a passion that she shared with her husband, founding the local Hilltown Chapter #94 of NAFCA in 1968. This group of families located throughout Hampshire County gathered together in various New England locations each month for campfires, card games, potlucks, children's fun and friendship. While some families came and went, Barbara and Orman stayed active in the "camping club" until 1997.
Although she always claimed "I was never good at math," Barbara served on the Finance Committee in Chesterfield. She was actively involved in the Senior Housing Commission and the Council on Aging for the past 20 years. Barbara was an avid reader, from her membership in the Book of the Month Club in 1947 to the present, reading the local newspapers and the latest fiction from the public library. Throughout her life, Barbara kept and recorded community anniversaries, family marriages, births and deaths, adding to her mother's collection of Jenkins history.
Barbara is remembered by her children Orman Jr., Mary, Debbie, Arthur, Betsy and her husband Mark, as well as her nephews George and Alden with his wife Louise, and her niece Esther. She was loved by her grandchildren Aaron, Stephen, Karen, Christopher, Robert, Dan with his wife Erika, and Eleanor and her great-grandchildren Anthony, Faith, Stephen Jr. and DJ.
Remembrances may be made to the Hilltown Elder Network, c/o Hilltown CDC, PO Box 17, Chesterfield, MA 01012; or in memo for the Scholarship Fund of the First Congregational Church of Chesterfield, PO Box 56, 43 Main Road, Chesterfield, MA 01012. Please, no flowers. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, March 17 at the First Congregational Church, Chesterfield. A potluck community luncheon will follow in the Community Center. Everyone who knew Barbara is welcome.