DOVER-FOXCROFT – Barbara M. Stanhope, 93, died peacefully Dec. 10, 2012, at Mayo Regional Hospital, Dover-Foxcroft. She was born Jan. 31, 1919, in Foxcroft, the daughter of Charles N. Stanhope, M.D., and Maude H. Marsh Stanhope.
Barbara attended schools in Dover-Foxcroft and graduated from Bates College and the University of Maine with a Master of Arts degree in English. As a teacher of English, Barbara began her career in Lisbon Falls. The following year, she taught in Groton, Mass., and then moved to Middleboro, Mass. In the late 1940s, she taught GIs at the University of Maine in Brunswick, formerly the Brunswick Naval Air Base. Thereafter, she taught in independent schools: Abbot Academy, the National Cathedral School and Lincoln School, a Quaker school for girls from which she retired after 26 years. Barbara enjoyed travel – particularly to England and Switzerland, both of which she visited many times. She and her companion, Rachel Alden, spent summers at a cottage on Sebec Lake. Reading was one of her greatest pleasures, especially biographies. One of her favorite poets was Edna St. Vincent Millay; she read and re-read Millay’s poems daily. Barbara will be remembered for her intelligence, sense of humor and candidness.
Barbara was predeceased by her parents; her brother, Murray M. Stanhope and his wife, Elizabeth S. Stanhope; and Rachel Alden, a friend with whom she made her home. She is survived by her nieces and nephews, Betty-Jane S. Meader and her husband, Dick, from Waterville, Nancy S. Smith and her husband, Steve, from Stonington and Port St. Lucie, Fla., James Stanhope and his wife, Laney, from Tampa, Fla., and Robert Stanhope and his wife, Fran, from Raymond. Special thanks are extended to her loving and loyal care giver, Tracy Raymond, who was always there for Barbara; her best friend and Foxcroft Academy classmate, Martha Rollins, who visited Barbara often; and the staff at Hibbard Nursing Home, who kept her happy and content.
Donations in her memory may be made to Foxcroft Academy, 975 West Main St., Dover-Foxcroft, ME 04426. Messages of condolence may be expressed at www.laryfuneralhome.com.
Barbara M. Stanhope
