Barbara, and her twin sister Christine, were born in Leicester, England, in September 1926 and moved to the picturesque, 11th-century cathedral city of Norwich when they were 10 yrs old. A family holiday at the seaside was the highlight of each year until WWII began in 1939. For the next 6 years, the beaches were closed: mined and barb-wired for fear the Nazis would cross the 25-mile Channel that separated England from Continental Europe. It was on her 13th birthday that Barbara was fitted for her government-issued gas mask, for Norwich lay only 20 miles from the eastern coast of England.
During the war, wanting to help where she could, Barbara volunteered 150 hours for the American Red Cross in Norwich. Professionally, she worked as a legal secretary Ð doing so well that her employer wanted her to go to law school. Those plans changed, however, one frosty, foggy night in December 1944. Cycling 5 miles on her bicycle through the fog and dark (England was under strict black out rules and there was no petrol for civilian cars), she attended a friend’s Christmas party. Two American Army Air Corps pilots arrived late, but just in time for dessert. One of the pilots, Ben Walsh, took especial notice of the attractive brunette sitting on the piano bench, both because she was pretty and because she had a piece of the rare and now-unavailable chocolate cake! He proceeded to ask if she would share her piece of cake with him. She thought that was quite impertinent, but she politely acquiesced. That piece of cake led to a 5-month courtship, and marriage on June 1, 1945. (They continued to share cake for the next 64 years!)
Although the war had ended in Europe, Ben volunteered to continue flying missions in the Pacific campaign. He wanted, however, to make sure Barbara reached the US before he left England. After badgering the various shipping companies for a space for Barbara on one of their ships sailing to the US (there were no passenger liners, only freighters with room for a handful of passengers), the Holland-America Line promised her a ticket on their next ship. On July 25, Barbara left England for the first time in her life, bound for the unknown, 3000 miles away. Her husband was not with her; she was all alone, but not scared. It felt like a great adventure. Her cabin mate was the Danish wife of the famous war correspondent Howard K. Smith (later anchor of the ABC Evening News). One of the best stories is of Barbara’s arrival in New York City on August 4, after an 11-day Atlantic crossing. Once disembarked, Barbara got into a cab and asked for the name of a hotel Ben had given her. The New York cabbie asked if she had a reservation and she replied no. Worried she might be stranded, the cabbie insisted on going into hotel after hotel before letting her out of his cab! He finally found her a room at the Hotel Claridge: Barbara spent her first night in America in a room overlooking Time Square! The neon lights, the bright colored cars, the fresh fruit stands, it was all a magical fairy land for her after 6 wartime years of rations and black-out in England. The next day she boarded a train to Iowa, where she would meet and stay with her kind, new in-laws until the war was completely over.
The war years had made young people mature very quickly. In 1947, after a brief assignment in Washington, DC, Ben and Barbara were selected to serve as diplomats for 3 years at the American Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. Barbara was not yet 21 years old, Ben not yet 28. There, Barbara organized and hosted elegant diplomatic dinners in their home, managed a team of household help, and became a mother for the second time. She also became a terrific navigator, navigating for Ben when he flew the Embassy’s DC-3 aircraft throughout Sweden and Europe. (Ben had been ordered by the Ambassador to fly the aircraft with the American flag on its tail, as often as possible.) Later, this talent was invaluable during the family’s countless car trips throughout the US and Europe. She particularly excelled in the little, off-the-beaten-track country roads of France.
The family moved 9 times during Ben’s Air Force career. Ben was the ultimate Provider, and Barbara was the Nurturer. Forgetting her plan to become a lawyer, Barbara devoted her entire life to her family: supporting Ben’s Air Force career, her two children, and three grandchildren. They were the center of her universe. It was she who made each new house a warm and beautiful home, and she planted roses in each garden, whether it was in Sweden, Virginia, Texas, France, or Belgium. Barbara’s activities were typically oriented towards the well-being of others. When Ben was the Commander of a B-47 Wing in Abilene, Texas, she, as wife of the Commander, was responsible for comforting the wife and family of pilots who died in the crash of their aircraft. She served as Co-leader of her daughter’s Girl Scout troop, enjoyed serving on the Altar and Flower Guilds at All Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, the Women’s Board of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and teaching friends to knit. She was a gifted knitter and she made beautiful sweaters for every member of her family. When grandchildren came along, she learned to smock little outfits (with airplanes and cartoon characters, for ex) and knitted sweaters to match! She also loved organizing frequent, gracious dinner parties, especially during the diplomatic years in Sweden, the NATO years in France and Belgium, and for the past 51 years, here at home in Santa Barbara.
Barbara rarely spent much time indulging in pleasures solely for herself, but she did have a lifelong love of playing tennis, and painting in both oils and watercolors. (Painting and gardening were talents she inherited from her English father.) She enjoyed her book clubs (enjoying biographies and non-fiction), garden clubs, the Yacht Club, opera, photography, traveling to new countries, and researching cultural and recreational activities for the family’s 6-week summer trips to France (for 16 consecutive years!).
Although she loved traveling and discovering new cultures, she always loved coming home to Santa Barbara. She never tired of looking out from her home at the view of the Channel and the islands Ð constantly remarking on the play of the sunlight on the water and the beauty of the sunsets.
Barbara left this world on March 31 and is now reunited with Ben; her parents Gladys and Frederick Eales of Norwich, England; her twin sister Christine Roxfelt of Stockholm, Sweden; her son Michael of Bellevue, Washington; and her dearest girlfriend Allayne Novak of Alexandria, Virginia.
Should anyone wish to make a donation in Barbara’s memory, it could be sent to All Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church (allsaintsbythesea.org), or Assisted Hospice Care of Santa Barbara (www.AssistedCares.com).
