Barbara Schulz Brown Watts passed away quietly the night of June 22-23 at the University of Vermont Medical Center with her husband, Peter Watts, by her side. She had suffered from an illness of uncertain diagnosis for several years. With Peter’s tender care she fought valiantly to stay active as she lost her mobility over the last several months. She is survived by her husband, Peter, and two children, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Her brother, William Schrafft Schulz, formerly of Center Harbor, New Hampshire, predeceased her.
She was born Barbara Franc Schulz in Manchester, New Hampshire, on September 15, 1928, to Robert William Schrafft Schulz and Franc Henkle Schulz. She attended Walnut Hill School and graduated from Colby Junior College (1948) and Smith College (1950). Summers were spent on Squam Lake in New Hampshire where she was a counselor with Doc Ann (Dr. Gibson) at Singing Eagle Lodge, a summer camp for girls, teaching canoeing and swimming. At Squam Lake, Barbara met her lifelong friend, Daphne Metcalf Mowatt, currently of Center Sandwich, New Hampshire, and enjoyed time with her cousins the Mosers, Rob Reno and her close friend, Mary Craig McLane.
In 1950, Barbara married Roger Stanley Brown, from Malden, Massachusetts, Dartmouth 1945, and a Marine pilot in World War II. They met on Mount Moosilauke where Roger, who was president of the Dartmouth Outing Club, managed the Ravine Lodge. Their honeymoon was spent canoeing down the Allagash River in northern Maine. They later worked at MacJannet Summer Camp on Lake Annecy, France, caring for French war orphans prior to attending the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne in Switzerland from 1950 to 1953. In 1955, they moved to Syracuse, New York. Barbara was vice president of Food Services Corporation (FSC), which Roger founded, a member of the Syracuse Junior League and, in the winter, manager of the Ski Hearth lodge in Constableville, New York, where she met Peter.
Originally from Utica, New York, Peter served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean Conflict. When released from active duty, he joined the General Electric Company in Syracuse. Some of the new friends he made there were skiers and convinced him to become one also. One of them knew a couple who had just opened a ski lodge near Turin, New York. Peter took his advice and became a regular guest at the Ski Hearth until he moved to Vermont where he built a vacation home and did graduate work at UVM.
When in 1966, Roger died tragically in a sailplane crash, Barbara replaced him as CEO of FSC. Headquartered in Syracuse, the company had several accounts in central New York and also designed the initial food services for the ski resorts at Vail, Colorado, and Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. She also continued to run the Ski Hearth which served the Snow Ridge ski area.
Barbara was an outstanding skier and a certified professional ski instructor. She taught in the Snow Ridge ski school in Turin and was the main proponent of the area’s junior racing program. She and her children were frequent contenders for the mother-child awards in the ski club races.
In 1968, Barbara sold FSC and married Peter Morgan Watts, RPI 1953, and moved with her children from Syracuse to Peter’s residence in Waterbury Center, Vermont. Both of her children subsequently graduated from Harwood Union High School and raced for the Valley Junior Race Team. They also supported college ski racing and she made cookies for the UVM, Dartmouth and St. Lawrence ski teams when she had children and grandchildren competing for them. Barbara was a volunteer ski instructor in the school program at Stowe.
She and Peter were active in community affairs. They were early members of the Hunger Mountain Cooperative and later became investors with a group of local citizens who purchased the Green Mountain Seminary, built in 1868, for the purpose of preservation. Barbara also served on the Bread and Law Task Force and was a longtime volunteer at the Green Mountain Club, which bestowed an honorary lifetime membership on her in 2009.
Barbara was also a wonderful hostess whom with Peter enjoyed creating memorable dinners and holidays for her family. They welcomed everyone and every animal they brought with them no matter what they were tracking in. The dogs all loved Barbara. She was always there for her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, unconditionally, with her radiant beautiful smile.
Barbara has three grandchildren by Galen and Doug Arnot: Kaitrin, Connor and Mac; and two by Chris Brown and Marilyn Cochran Brown: Roger and Douglas. Roger married Dr. Jennifer Keller and they have given Barbara and Peter three great-grandchildren: Charles Douglas and twins Sydney Barbara and Gordon (Mickey).
In her final months and days it was wonderful to see the joy she took in visits from her great-grandchildren.
A celebration of Barbara's life will be held at 3 p.m. on Saturday, August 13, 2016, at her home on Bittersweet Lane, Waterbury Center, Vermont. For those who wish, memorial gifts would be appreciated to the Green Mountain Club (www.greenmountainclub.org) and Doctors without Borders (www.doctorswithoutborders.org). Assisting the family is Perkins-Parker Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Waterbury. To send online condolences please visit www.perkinsparker.com.
