Barbara A. Stanton

1931 - 2020

Born and raised on a small family farm, in rural

Maine during the Great Depression, Barbara

graduated from Gardiner High School in 1949. She

enlisted in the United States Navy in 1951 and

served for four years, stationed at Quonset Point,

Rhode Island. It was there that she met her future

husband, Robert Stanton. They moved to Queens,

New York in 1955 at the conclusion of Military

Service, Robert working as an air traffic controller at

Kennedy International Airport.

She raised five children (four boys and a girl) and the

family eventually moved east to Miller Place, Long Island, where all five children

grew up. Barbara worked at the IRS Center in Holtsville, NY for over a decade.

After the children had grown, she and Robert retired to Gardiner, Maine, living in

her former childhood home with a view of the Cobbossee Stream and gardens

she created.

Her retirement years were very active as she traveled to Europe, learned to play

tennis then pickleball, and spent the winters in North Fort Myers, Florida where

she biked, swam, and socialized. She remained active and independent for

eighty-five plus years.

Barbara spent the final year of her life in an assisted living home near some of

her children and grandchildren. Her day was always instantly brightened

whenever seeing or speaking to any of the five grandkids.

For her entire life, she had simple needs and rarely complained. She displayed

resiliency often. She spoke her mind. And even before the Women’s Liberation

Movement of the 60’s and 70’s, she advocated for women’s rights. She lived a

perfectly full life.