Barbara Deane Lytle Williams

Barbara (Barb) was born to Archie Kirtley Lytle II and Dean Doorn Lytle on May 23, 1934 in Chicago, Illinois.  She grew up in the shadow of the Great Depression; her grandfather (father's side) had been an executive with Swift & Co working in South America and traveling the globe during the "Roaring Twenties" and her grandparents (mother's side) had emigrated from Holland and a poor itinerate farming family. Her father's socially prominent parents sent their son to Loomis prep school in Connecticut and her mother grew up in a strict religious home. Dean ran away from home to live with her aunt in Chicago working as a cashier in a department store cafeteria. Neither of their families approved of the marriage, leaving them to struggle on their own. They were married in Chicago; he was 21 and she was 17.

Barb grew up with 3 siblings in a loving home where their mother cared for them while her father had successive jobs as a traveling salesman to support the family. Her Lytle grandparents had a home in New Smyrna Beach where her family would vacation and where she would eventually take her own brood of five to visit. The family moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan where she grew up. Barb is pre-deceased by her siblings, her older sister and brother, Ina (Lytle) Cook, Archie K Lytle, III, and her younger sister, Linda (Lytle) Huepenbecker.

Barb was an attractive, talented young woman and 19 years old when she met and married the love of her life, Kenneth (Ken) C Williams, with whom she shared a sixty-six (66) year marriage until his passing in January of 2018. Barb and Ken met through the Methodist Church that they both attended; Barb played the piano and Ken was active in the church ministry. She learned shorthand and worked as a secretary. They were married in August 1953 in Kalamazoo, Michigan while Ken was attending Western Michigan University. Together they raised five (5) children on her husband's high school math teacher salary and built their first home for the growing family, a ranch-style house in Kalamazoo, Michigan. They would go on to build five (5) homes in the course of their marriage; their final dream home was on 15 acres in the foothills overlooking the Shenandoah Valley in Woodstock, Virginia. With both Barb and Ken's extended families living in the Grand Rapids area much of their time was spent vacationing and celebrating with their parents, siblings, cousins, and their children.

Barb showered love on her family moving with five (5) little ones in tow (ages one to seven) to Bowling Green, Ohio where Ken was enrolled at Bowling Green University to pursue a master's degree in mathematics on a National Science Endowment Scholarship. The decision was transformational when Ken was recruited by IBM as a programmer to work in Kingston, NY and the family moved to Red Hook, New York developing lifelong friendships with other "IBM-er" families and spending together at the IBM "Country Club's" pool, ball fields, and picnic areas.

While in Red Hook, the family rented a rambling Victorian house with lots of land, a barn, and a pond. With children now old enough to help, they acquired their first pony and two horses at auction beginning a farming lifestyle of horse farms and 4-H.  Barb helped fulfill Ken's dream of owning land and a farm, harkening back to the Roth family dairy farms where he grew up, when they moved to Rhinebeck, New York in 1966 to rambling acres, barns and with streams, hills, and woods to explore.

Her children's memories of growing up in this loving, close-knit family are of a mother at the center of it all who understood them as individuals, helping them engage their intellect, creativity and interests. Her children's interests ranged from the scholastic to music to horse shows to sports. Farm life called for hard work and Barb was there to feed the hungry growing crew and tend to their regular mishaps and misdeeds, especially holding down the fort when Ken was traveling for work that took him to South America and Europe.

As her children passed from elementary to high school in Red Hook and Rhinebeck, the United Methodist Church was at the center of faith and service. Barb was active with service projects including founding a Meals on Wheels program with her dear friend, Pat Brammer.

In 1974, IBM transferred Ken to Raleigh, North Carolina, where the family built their third home in Apex, North Carolina. With only daughter, Sally, at home and in high school, Barb began to pick up her art interest again. With a friend who was also interested in art they began creating painted Christmas ornaments and painted plaques that they sold at a rented booth at a weekend crafts fair in Raleigh. Barb also began taking art classes.

In 1979, Ken was transferred to work for IBM in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia. With her children's lives launched, Barb began her art career in earnest. As a young woman and mother, she had pursued her interest in art especially ceramics. Barb was in her early forties, her five (5) children were grown, and it was time to turn to serious study of art. She began working for the Director of the Art League School at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, the country's largest collection of working-artists' open studios under one roof and located in Alexandria, Virginia.  She started taking classes there and studying under the internationally renowned artist, Diane Tesler. Barb soon had her own studio and Diane became an important mentor and lifelong friend.

Cramped by apartment living in Alexandria, Barb and Ken found the dream location for the fourth home they would build overlooking the Shenandoah Valley. Here she set up her studio in a location that became the inspiration for much of her art. Barb's art became her expressive life – through it we see her love for the natural world, for people, and for the beauty surrounding us in the objects of her still life paintings. She said, "There is so much beauty all around us, in things we see every day. I try to express my interpretation of color, shadows and reflections in that beauty." "It's exciting being an artist, because you see color in something you never saw before; the colors are richer than before. As an artist, you can leave out what you want and interpret how you see a subject. So, there is a lot of power there." Barb was a featured artist in numerous solo and group shows, and her work garnered local and regional awards in Virginia She served two terms as the President of The Valley Educational Center of the Creative Arts (VECCA) in the Shenandoah Valley. She was instrumental in forming the 7 East Gallery in Woodstock, Virginia. Barb maintained a studio in her home on Summer Street in Salem continuing to paint and draw until her passing.

Barb and Ken maintained an active church life at the Woodstock Methodist Church where they started and expanded a food bank and thrift store. They also were active youth group leaders working on service projects in Appalachia through the "Warmer. Safer. Drier. Fund" to repair roofs, install running water and toilets, provide installation and repair cracks and leaks, and to stabilize houses.

The home in Virginia became the focal point for her scattered brood living in Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina and Virginia to gather for celebrations and holidays. Barb, Mom, Grandma and Great Grandma infused these times with her great capacity for love and understanding. Her grandchildren and great grandchildren would know the meaning of unconditional love and find great adventures on the farm that still had a few aging horses, tractors and wagons, and streams and fields to explore…as well as Grandma's studio where a few found their own passion for art.

In 2012, Barb and Ken moved to Salem, Massachusetts to live with her daughter, Bonnie Henry, and her family where they could help in the care of Ken who had suffered a debilitating stroke. Barb again set up a studio in her home and she and Ken joined the Wesley Methodist Church and became active members. Having their lives centered on a faith community was deeply important to them. Barb continued her bible study and daily devotion. She cooked for the Sunday coffee hours that fed some of Salem's homeless people including the Friday before her death on Tuesday; she was hard-wired for a life of giving, giving of her talents, service, and resources.

Barb is survived by her son, Jeffrey Williams of Red Hook, New York and his children, Lindsay, Kaitlyn, and Jessica and pre-deceased by his wife, Deborah (Doherty), who died last year. She is also survived by her daughter, Bonnie (Williams) Henry of Salem, Massachusetts, her husband, David, and her children, Thomas, Katherine, and William; her son, Mark Williams of Holly Springs, North Carolina, his wife, Susan (Schadle), and his children, Lauren (Ubiera), Jonathan, and Chason, and Lauren's children, William and Gabriela; and, her daughter, Sally Williams of Raleigh, North Carolina. She is also pre-deceased by her son, Kenneth Michael "Mike" Williams of Woodstock, Virginia who died last year and is survived by his three sons, James, Samuel, and Matthew.

There will be a service held at the Wesley Methodist Church, Salem, MA at 2:00pm Saturday, December 14th, with a reception immediately following at Murphy's Funeral Home, Salem, MA. Visiting hours are on Friday, December 13th from 4-7pm at Murphy's Funeral Home. Her families suggest that donations can be made in her name to Appalachia Service Project https://asphome.org/give, specifically their Warmer, Safer, Drier, Fund where she and her husband contributed their services for many years.