Barbara McDowell Credit: Courtesy
Barbara Dickinson McDowell, 91, of Shelburne, passed away on Monday, January 5, after a short illness.
She was born on March 9, 1934, in Champlain, N.Y., the daughter of Howard and Winifred Prouty Dickinson. She graduated from Brandon High School (Vt.) in 1952 and Vermont Junior College in 1954 with an associate’s degree in liberal arts. She married Richard Parmelee (Pete) McDowell on April 23, 1955, with whom she raised five children. In 1978 she began working full time at Burlington High School as an administrative assistant, a job she loved for 22 years, while making many longtime friends before retiring in 1999.
Retirement brought time for travel with friends, various shopping trips around New England, and trips to Belize and Mexico, but her favorite were the yearly trips to Maine, where she and Peter could just relax on the beach and eat lobster. (Barbara was a master at cleaning lobster, never missing a knuckle or the minute amount of meat in the legs.)
Barbara was a fierce competitor on the paddle or tennis court or at the dining room table, where she was a formidable opponent at her favorite card and board games, cribbage and Scrabble.
Through the years the dining room was also a welcoming place for a wide variety of Pete’s and Barbara’s friends as well as the friends of their children, who always found a chair at the table to share a holiday dinner or a Sunday afternoon.
She is survived by her daughters Susan Stevens (Stuart) and Maryanne Bianca (Jerry Hoffman); son TJ McDowell (Deb Wehrlin); grandchildren Taylor Stevens (fiancée Melissa Kinville), Gregory Stevens (fiancée Jamie Latuch), James Bianca, Caitlin Bianca Covey (David Covey), Jacob McDowell and Emma McDowell; and one great-granddaughter, Madison Stevens. She also leaves her sister Hilda Welch and brother Thomas Dickinson, along with numerous nieces and nephews.
She was predeceased by her husband, Richard; son Christopher; daughter Sandra; brother Howard M. Dickinson Jr. and his wife, Tilly; brother-in-law Richard Welch and sister-in law Eileen Dickinson.
A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. on June 13, 2026, at the Shelburne Methodist Church in Shelburne, Vt., where she was a parishioner for over 50 years.
Many thanks to the entire team at the Arbors, where she resided for the last 14 months.
Donations are encouraged to a charity of one’s choice.
