Barbara E. (Pope) Boates

West Yarmouth – Mrs. Barbara E. (Pope) Boates, of West Yarmouth, died Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at Mayflower Place in West Yarmouth. She was 82.

Barbara was born in Boston on April 11, 1935, a daughter of the late John H. and Lena E. (Hurrell) Pope, and was raised in Waltham where she was a 1952 graduate of Waltham High School. A year later, she graduated from Boston's Chandler School for Women.

In 1953, Barbara married Waltham native T. Thomas Boates, Jr. Following his graduation from the Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri in 1957, the couple lived in communities in Maryland, New York and Massachusetts before retiring to the Cape.

Barbara was a highly regarded executive secretary and administrative assistant for several employers. As an avid reader and student of the English language, she valued well-crafted writing and a clever turn of phrase. Her sense of humor was quick and dry. She was a skilled seamstress and delighted in creating needlework gifts for friends and family.

Barbara enjoyed art and music. She and husband Tom were subscribers to the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Huntington Theatre as well as members of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. She found special pleasure in performances of tap dance and traditional Dixieland jazz music.

Barbara was also an active advocate for the rights and welfare of women and children. In retirement, she served as a volunteer aide in local elementary schools near their home in Foxboro.

In addition to her husband of sixty-four years, Rev. T. Thomas Boates, Jr., she leaves her children, Ellen B. Clark and her husband, Donald, of Glenview, Illinois, T. Thomas Boates, III of New Haven, Connecticut and John H. Boates and his wife, Darlyss, of Farmington, New York; her grandchildren, Katherine M. Boates and her fiancé, Justin Goudreau, Thomas J. Boates and his wife, Elizabeth, Bethany C. Ngo and her husband, Brandon, and Alexander H. Clark and his wife, Lorri; her great-grandchildren, Graham, Owen, Finley, Blair and Maisie Clark, Keira and Andrew Ngo and Charlotte Boates; her brother, John H. Pope, Jr. and his wife, Carolyn of Clearwater, Florida and many nieces and nephews.

Barbara was also a sister of the late Marjorie E. Pearson and Eleanor Pope.

A graveside service will be held for the family on Friday, November 3rd at 9 a.m. in Mount Feake Cemetery in Waltham.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, November 3rd at 11 a.m. in the Old South Church, 645 Boylston Street, Boston, followed by a reception. Parking is available the Garage @ 100 Clarendon (behind Back Bay Station); have your ticket validated at Old South Church's Front Desk and you pay the discounted rate of $7 for up to 3 hours.

Memorial donations may be made to Planned Parenthood, 1055 Comm. Ave., Boston, MA 02215 or to the Alzheimer's Association, 309 Waverley Oaks Rd., Waltham, MA 02452.