Barbara Flink Ewels

Barbara Ewels, beloved mother, grandmother, aunt, sister, cousin and friend, passed away at RiverMead in Peterborough on Saturday, July 15, 2023.

Barbara (Hartwell) Flink Ewels grew up in Pleasantville, NY, the middle of 3 daughters of Charles Russell and Helen Hartwell Flink. Barbara took piano lessons as a girl and was adept at both playing the classics (Claire de Lune) and playing melodies by ear. During the war, she attended Middlebury College where she majored in Sociology with a minor in Psychology. She corresponded with her future husband Jack Ewels whom she had known since 6th grade and dated briefly at the end of high school. He was serving in the 84th Infantry in Europe during the Battle of the Bulge. He went to RPI on the GI Bill while Barbara worked for JT Baker Chemical Company in NYC in sales. They were married in May 1950 and moved to Wilmington, DE.  They started a family having 2 daughters, Carolyn born in 1953, and Bobbie in 1957.

Barbara and Jack were great dog lovers, acquiring Mr. Chips (the first of a series of cocker spaniels and later, Labradors). Barbara was active in scouting as a leader; she had loved girl scout camp as a girl and spent summers in camp in locations throughout New England. She also became a duplicate bridge player, and later on, an avid tennis player. Stoddard, NH in the summers was a family anchor through multiple moves that Jack’s job with Allied Chemical required.  Her parents had retired to nearby Marlow and both her sisters had ties to the area. Mom loved the water, and canoed and swam every chance she got.  That love continued into her old age- she bought a kayak in her 80’s and continued to swim laps until she was 95.

After the girls went to college, Jack and Barbara enjoyed travel both within the US (Maine, the Southwest, Florida) and Europe (England, Switzerland, Italy). In 1997, Barbara and Jack found a house near Carolyn’s vacation home in Stoddard, NH.

After Jack passed away in 2003, Barbara continued to spend time in Fort Myers every winter, where she loved to look at the birds on Sanibel Island, and return to her beloved Stoddard home in the spring. She loved watching sports and playing games (particularly the word game UpWords and the card game Euchre with her grandchildren). She lived in Stoddard until 2012 when she moved to RiverMead in Peterborough. She celebrated her 99th birthday in May.

She is survived by her daughters, her sister Charlotte Faulkner and her family.  She is additionally survived by grandchildren Stephen, Chris, Elizabeth, and Mark (Carolyn Lex) Kent, Laura Gordon, Kevin Anderson (Reshmina William) and Charlotte Sawtell (Reid) and five great grandchildren— Jack, Clara, Katie, Maisie and Laura Grace.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a memorial donation in Barbara's to Tiny Tummies, 305 Park Avenue, Keene, NH 03431 or to Compassus Living Foundations, 503 N. Euclid Avenue, Suite 9E, Bay City, MI 48706.