Barbara Reed, 95, Enjoyed Quilting and Rug Making

Barbara D. Reed died August 27 at Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Oak Bluffs. She was 95.

Barbara Dunton Fernald was born on August 13, 1910, in Portsmouth, N.H. She first attended a one-room schoolhouse on Middle Road (which is still standing) and was graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1928, having been active in the Campfire Girls and in cheerleading. As a young woman, she saved some money and moved, alone, to Boston to attend the Vesper George School of Art, an unusual and brave decision for her time. She never pursued art as a vocation, but that training and her talent influenced her thereafter in her hooked rug and quilt designs and in her gardening.

She eventually met and married Wendell J. Reed from Auburndale, settled in Newtonville and had their first son. Wendell enlisted when World War II began, and the family moved to Warrenton, Va., for the duration of the war. Not long after, they bought a house in West Medway and had their second son.

While primarily a housewife, Barbara took on a variety of jobs, eventually becoming a librarian in the Medway and West Medway libraries. She continued to be a voracious reader, as always.

After their sons were out of the house, Barbara was very active in quilting and rug making groups in Medway, helping to raise funds for the historical society. The Reeds eventually moved to Whitinsville, near their older son. Barbara became active in the Congregational Church there, volunteering at the Thrift Shop. She obtained a driver's license in her seventies and enjoyed her newfound mobility, maintaining contact with her Medway friends and continuing to participate in quilting and rug making activities there.

In 1990 after Wendell had died, Barbara moved to the Vineyard where her second son had settled. She lived at Havenside in Vineyard Haven until advancing Alzheimer's Disease made it necessary for her to move into the newly finished Windemere in May 1994. She had lived there ever since.

She is survived by two sons, Christopher of East Douglas and Brian of Oak Bluffs; a brother, James Fernald of Lancaster, Calif.; and two grown grandchildren, Nathan and Sarah. She also leaves many friends and caregivers who well remember her kindness, wit and spirit.

She will be interred beside Wendell at Evergreen Cemetery in West Medway. Arrangements are not yet complete and are under the care of the Ginley-Crowley Funeral Home in Medway. In lieu of flowers or other gifts, contributions may be made to the Alzheimer's Disease Unit at Windemere, P.O. Box 1747, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557.