Barbara Birmingham McLeod

Barbara Birmingham McLeod, 84, of Bloomfield CT and Weekapaug RI, formerly of West Hartford CT, died peacefully at home in the Duncaster community of Bloomfield, on Tuesday, September 13, 2011. She leaves her husband Richard H. "Dick" McLeod of Bloomfield, with whom she celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary two days earlier. Barbara was born in Pittsburgh, PA, on July 26, 1927, the daughter of the late Donald C.W. Birmingham, a banker, and Gertrude Price Birmingham of Greensburg in Western Pennsylvania. Barbara was the second oldest of five sisters who remain very close. She graduated from Greensburg High School, attended Harvard Summer School, and graduated from Vassar College in 1948. She taught at Valley School in Ligonier PA and later at Trinity School in New York City, where she and Dick, both faculty members, first met. On September 11, 1954, Dick and Barbara were married at the Birmingham home in Greensburg. Suzanne, Doug, and Andy were born in Manhattan over the next six years. The family moved to Providence RI, where Dick taught at Moses Brown School and then, in 1963, to West Hartford. Dick joined the faculty of Renbrook School, serving over thirty years as an English teacher, Head of Middle School, Director of Admissions, and Assistant Headmaster.Barbara played many roles at Renbrook, including substitute teacher, parent volunteer, and faculty spouse. Barbara loved to travel and explore, with a passion for history and archeology. She and Dick visited much of Europe, Scandinavia their honeymoon, Greece and Turkey, Russia, Israel and Egypt, and many parts of the US and Canada. She was an intellectually curious and creative person with wide interests. Always an enthusiastic reader and student, she was a member of two century-old groups of learning in Hartford, the Monday Reading Club and the Thursday Club. She loved working on the weekly New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle. An active member of the Connecticut chapter of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, she enjoyed touring New England and conducted extensive research on family genealogy. Barbara was well informed and opinionated about politics and supportive of candidates for public office, none more so than her brother-in-law Ross Perot. She loved nature and all growing things, and was long involved with the Green Gardeners of West Hartford and the Weekapaug Foundation for Conservation. Very skilled with her hands and all types of crafts, she was a long-time member of the "Sew Sews," a weekly crafts group in West Hartford. Barbara was a member of both Asylum Hill Congregational Church in Hartford, volunteering on the annual Boar's Head Festival for many years, and the Weekapaug Chapel Society. She also served on the Women's Committee of the Wadsworth Athenaeum and on the Institute of Living Auxiliary, both in Hartford. She leaves Dick of Bloomfield; Suzanne W. McLeod of Arlington MA; Douglas B. McLeod of London England, and Andrew H. McLeod of Tallahassee FL; daughters-in-law Bette Anne Berg and Kathy Baughman McLeod; granddaughters Nora McLeod Maybury and Jillian Augusta Jayne McLeod; sisters Mrs. Frank Helen Keenan of Vero Beach FL; Mrs. Henry Nancy Jamison of Greensburg, Suzanne Birmingham of Greensburg, and Mrs. Ross Margot Perot, of Dallas, Texas; brothers-in-law Ross Perot of Dallas Harry Adriance of Longmeadow MA, and David B. McLeod of Appleton WI; sister-in-law Mrs. C. Anderson Jean McLeod of Essex CT; and 19 nieces and nephews. Barbara was a dear friend to many throughout her life. She will be missed by all. She will be cherished especially by Dick, Suzanne, Doug and Andy, and Helen, Nancy, Sue, Margot, and all in her family. A memorial service will be celebrated on Saturday, Sept 17, at 11 a.m. at Asylum Hill Congregational Church, 814 Asylum Ave., Hartford. Donations in memoryof Barbara McLeod can be made to the Richard H. and Barbara B. McLeod Scholarship Fund, Renbrook School, 2865 Albany Avenue, West Hartford CT 06117.

Barbara Birmingham McLeod

July 26, 1927 - September 13, 2011