Longtime summer resident Barbara Stevenson died peacefully on April 13 at the age of 93. She and her late husband, Sandy, who died in 2009, had summered on the Vineyard for more than 40 years with their children, grandchildren, and a series of black Labradors. She will be remembered as one with boundless energy for people and places. Barbara and Sandy traveled extensively, but reserved their summers for the Vineyard. She could be found admiring the sunset at the Menemsha dock, exploring Jane Slater’s antique shop and swimming at the beach in her trademark white rubber bathing cap. She delighted in picking up sea glass with her grandson and never missed an opportunity for conversation with whomever she met. A devoted customer at the Chilmark Swapmeet, she perused the booths for treasures with a basket on her arm. She loved to entertain guests in the evenings, often treating them to one of her prize-winning peach pies or a cobbler made from blueberries picked while Sandy walked a black Labrador. She and Sandy were also avid birders, joining walks with Ed Chalif and Soo Whiting. The Stevensons were committed to preserving the Vineyard’s natural spaces through support of conservation causes.

Starting when the Chilmark Community Center first began, Barbara served a number of years on the summer program committee and for many years participated in folk dancing, group sings and Kathy Costanza’s modern dance classes. She taught Shakespeare at the Aquinnah Library and attended classical music concerts all over the Island.

A fourth-generation Californian, Barbara was born in Los Angeles. She attended the University of Southern California on a radio spelling bee scholarship, then moved on to UCLA and the University of California at Berkeley, where she received her master’s degree in English. While at Berkeley, she met Sandy, a recent immigrant from Scotland. They moved east during the War, and were married in New York city. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and she joined the Red Cross. The couple settled in the Washington, D.C. area, where Sandy began working for the World Bank and she took a teaching position at the University of Maryland. After retirement, she taught in continuing education programs and did other volunteer work.

The couple visited the Vineyard for as long as they were able, enjoying their house on Moshup Trail built by their architect son Andrew Stevenson. Barbara and Sandy are survived by three children: Andrew, Kathleen and Malcolm, and six grandchildren.