Barbara Ann Cahill, of Peru, Maine passed away on August 26, 2018, with her loving children and grandchildren by her side. The daughter of Margaret Elizabeth Sherman and William Pierce Cahill, Barbara was born in Waltham, Massachusetts on May 13, 1946. She spent much of her childhood living on a farm in Bradford, Maine with her brothers and sisters. She later settled in Hudson, Massachusetts, where she met her former husband, Bill, and raised her five daughters—Debra, Bonnie, Dawn, Margaret, and Linda.
In addition to her work inside the home as a mother and wife, Barbara spent many years working in clerical, secretarial, and administrative positions. She spent ten years working at Digital Equipment Corporation in Massachusetts, where she began as cleaner and worked her way up to becoming a secretary. Years later, she enjoyed working at several video rental stores in Western Maine.
Her family and those that knew her will surely remember her for the passionate sports fan, animal lover, and BINGO aficionado that she was. Though she had faced hard times at many points in her life, Barbara had found comfort and peace in recent years more so than she ever had before—retired, living on a quiet, rural road, her two dogs always by her side, and a steady stream of visits from her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Barbara is predeceased by her parents, her brother George Cahill, her sisters Jean Cahill, Kathleen Cross, and Peggy Libro, and her former husband and father of her five daughters William Hussian, who she maintained a close friendship with until his passing.
She is survived by her daughters Debra A. Hussian and partner, Paul Brigham, of Lunenburg, MA, Bonnie L. Punch and husband, Phillip, of Natick, MA, Dawn M. Hamilton and husband, Charles, of Millbury, MA, Margaret E. Niblick and husband, Paul, of Peru, ME, Linda L. Varnum and husband, Leroy, of Rumford; grandchildren Jessica Sargent and Allan Hussian, Jake, Dylan, and Jesse Punch and his wife, Mona, Samantha Hamilton, Brett Beauchesne, Cassie and Chris Glynn and his wife, Kadie, and Katherine MacDonald, Nicholas and Austin Varnum; sister Audrey Ellingwood of Riverview, FL; brother William Cahill and wife, Gail, of Bradford, ME; and sister-in-law Alicia Belanger. She is also survived by several great-grandchildren and nieces and nephews.
Barbara asked that when a time came for us to gather and remember her life after she passed that no one wear black. She loved bright colors and sparkle, and we would like to honor her wishes by dressing accordingly.
