Barbara Critchett Walker

Barbara, “B”, was born in Amherst, Massachusetts on March 6, 1920, the eldest of three children of Irene Martin and Edward R. Critchett. She grew up on the apple farm owned by her family, which is now Atkins Farms in Amherst. Some of their original farm land is now part of the Hampshire College campus. In 1942 she graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a degree in Psychology. She continued with her education, entering a Master’s program in Psychology, but her studies were interrupted in 1943 when she left to marry Jim Walker. She traveled alone by train across the country to San Francisco where she married Jim, who was stationed there during World War II. After the war, they returned to western Massachusetts for several years, relocating to Keene, NH in 1955 to raise their children.

B loved spending summers with her family at Sand Pond in Lempster and later at Silver Lake in Harrisville, where she enjoyed sailing, swimming and birding. She was a voracious reader, an avid tennis player and enjoyed golf, bowling and walking. Beginning in 1986, after Jim’s death, she began spending winters at her home in Goodland, Florida. Every year, on her way to and from Florida, she spent several weeks with each of her two daughters and their families.

She is survived by her three children: William C. (Bill) Walker (wife Jennie) of Harrisville, NH and Goodland, FL; Mary Skipp (husband David) of Leesburg, VA; Jane Ledbetter (husband Larry) of Atlanta, GA; seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, all of whom will miss her dearly.

A private burial will take place in the fall at the Walker Family plot at the Quabbin Park Cemetery in Belchertown, MA.

To honor her life, contributions may be made in her memory to the Silver Lake Land Trust, PO Box 222, Harrisville, NH 03450 or a charity of your choice.