Obituary of Barbara Spillsbury Hayes

Barbara Spillsbury Hayes was born August 17, 1923 and passed away peacefully on May 20, 2016 at the age of 92. Barbara grew up on Washington Street in Woburn, MA, where her father and grandfather were commercial flower growers. She graduated from Woburn High School in 1941, and later trained as a secretary and bookkeeper. She worked for many years for the food brokerage firm Chase – Kolbin Associates, rising through the ranks to Controller. Barbara lived her entire life in the Greater Boston area, for many years in Wayland and most recently at Linden Ponds in Hingham. Through the years, she travelled extensively in Europe and the Caribbean with her sister Joan. She also enjoyed playing mahjong, bridge, tennis and golf, and actively supported a number of charities. Barbara loved animals: her childhood horse, the Siberian Huskies she rescued, and her beloved cats, Babe and Princess. Barbara was a strong woman, with strong opinions. Those qualities helped her immensely through the tragic illness and death of her only son, Bill, from AIDS in 1988. She was one of the first to publicly acknowledge AIDS as the cause of her son’s death in his obituary. Her openness about his illness provided support and comfort to many other families in similar circumstances. Barbara was predeceased by her son, William Spillsbury Hayes. She is survived by her sister, Joan Spillsbury Stockard, and her nephew Christopher Stockard and his wife, Heather. No services are planned.