Barbara Green
1927 – 2010
Barbara was born and raised in Gillingham, Kent an only child but bought up in the company of her cousins, Derek and Ken and her childhood friend Hazel. The war was an important part of her childhood and she described to her own children the terror of blackouts and bomb shelters.After the war she started working in London where she met Harry. It was love at first sight for him.
He was in his Boss’s office when Barbara came in and he first saw her -‘a beautiful girl’. Harry’s work with World Health Organisation took him to Geneva and they started their married life there.They had four children, Peter, Nick. Jeremy and Fiona all born in Geneva apart from Peter for whose birth Barbara returned to England to be near her mother. They had 12 grandchildren and three great grandchildren with a fourth due which Barbara knew about.
The family lived in a lovely house in the ‘Chemin des Coudriers’. Later they moved to Badian, a large family in nearby French countryside in the foothills of The Jura Mountains. Harry would take the children skiing on Saturday mornings and Barbara would have steak and chips ready for their return.
Initially Barbara was uncertain of foreign places concerned about the hygiene of hotels but later any reticence was gone and when Harry retired she would have happily stayed in Geneva.
They moved to The Spinney in Slindon in 1979 where they were very happy finding good friends and neighbours and very involved in village life.Another important place for Barbara was their house in Pals (Spain) where they spent several months each year.
Barbara said that she likes routine saying that she loved waking to a new day starting with a good breakfast. She loved walking and enjoyed long walks with Zelda their dog. She also loved simply sitting out on the terrace in the sun watching the bird feeding.She appreciated music of all kinds. She described a party in Geneva where they danced wildly to a song called ‘She Loves you’ by a group called The Beatles !
Barbara loved cooking and parties often ended with singing with Barbara playing the piano. She always remained calm. She did suffer from Harry’s illness and subsequent death and in the later stages from her own declining memory though she continued to do the crossword and ‘Countdown’. In the last few years she was devotedly cared for by Terri.
She was a kind, good, generous and unselfish person.
Oct 2010