Barbara Cagliuso

Barbara (Stetson) Cagliuso, 80, died peacefully at home with her family at her side on Monday, September 12th. She was the wife of the late Frank George Cagliuso. Born in Lewiston, Maine and raised in Marblehead, she was the daughter of the late Robert and Rena (Doherty) Stetson. She leaves her daughter, Dara VanRemoortel and her husband Chris, and her son Gary F. Cagliuso, all of Marblehead. She also leaves two grandchildren, Anna and Craig VanRemoortel, a sister, Susan Renault of Greenville, South Carolina, and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her daughter Lisa.

Barbara graduated from Marblehead High School in 1953. After high school, she worked for WLYN radio station. She then went on the road singing and playing bass with her best friend Audrey Ballard in The Embassy Four. She met her husband Frank when he played with the Larry Valentine Orchestra and she was the vocalist. They married in 1958 and created a beautiful home on a quiet lane where they raised their three children.

Barbara was forever giving, forever volunteering. She was the neighborhood collector for American Heart Association, Cystic Fibrosis, and March of Dimes. She drove Metco students to Wonderland if they missed their bus. She hosted inner city children for the Fresh Air program. When her children were older, she worked as an aide at the Bell School, and as a clerk in the Marblehead High School office. She served on the Board of the Friends of the Abbot Public Library. Barbara also enjoyed playing bass for Marblehead Little Theater and Salem State productions.

Barbara was a devoted and nurturing mother who provided a loving home where neighborhood children and friends gathered for games of kickball or sardines. On cold winter days, she provided hot chocolate and popcorn after an afternoon of skating on the pond. On hot summer days, it was lemonade and kool-pops, after a swim at “the rocks”.

Barbara filled her house with music and singing. Whether she was scat singing along with Ella Fitzgerald or Cleo Laine, or jamming in the basement on her bass with her family, there was always sweet music. Gardening was her other passion. Her garden was her sanctuary, and was the inspiration for a song “Mimi’s Garden”.

Her grandchildren, Anna and Craig, were a huge source of pride for her. A friend recently said, “She was the Mimi who came to every performance for her grandchildren and always made me feel like she was genuinely happy to see me and greet me with that smile that lit up the room.” Barbara was beauty, she was kindness, she was simplicity, she was grace. “Take time to appreciate the simple things, sunsets, warm breezes, pretty butterfly wings. Listen to the birds singing in the tree, singing their song for me, singing their song for me.”

A memorial service will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 28 Mugford Street, Marblehead, Thursday, December 15th, at 1:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, please do a random act of kindness for someone in Barbara’s honor. Arrangements by Eustis and Cornell of Marblehead.