(Host) Barbara Ketchum, a longtime conservationist in southern Vermont, died earlier this week.
For many years, Barbara and Richard Ketchum were influential farmers, writers, and environmentalists in Dorset. In recent years, they had relocated to the Wake Robin retirement community in Shelburne, where last week, Barbara died at age 89.
Barbara Bray Ketchum was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up in Pennsylvania. She studied modern dance at Sarah Lawrence College, and later performed with Martha Graham’s dance company.
Ketchum reminisced in 2010 with her husband Richard and their daughter Liza about the couple’s long and active life together. The interview was part of a joint project on memory loss with StoryCorps, the Shelburne Museum, and VPR. In one exchange, the three of them recalled Barbara’s early years as a dancer.
(Liza) "When you were dancing in Appalachian Spring and the other dances you were in, was that after you were married or while you were still in college? I get that sort of mixed up, that time period."
(Barbara) "I do too! No, I went to her school."
(Richard) "Down in the Village."
(Liza) "In Greenwich Village?"
(Barbara) "Yeah. Uhuh."
(Host) Barbara Ketchum is survived by her husband of almost 69 years, her daughter, and a son, and grandchildren.
A "Circle of Remembrance" will be held on Saturday at Wake Robin.
StoryCorps: Piecing Together Memories