Barbara E. Mansfield
January 4, 1925 – May 1, 2016
Barbara E. Mansfield
Barbara E. Mansfield, 91, died on May 1, 2016, at her daughter’s home in Ruskin, Fla., where she resided. She passed peacefully, surrounded by her loving family, after a year-long battle with cancer, which she met with bravery, dignity and class.
She was born January 4, 1925, in Cambridge, Mass., to Florence (Earle) and Harold Marshall of St. John’s, Newfoundland. She graduated from the Cambridge High and Latin School in 1942, then worked for several years at the Harvard Business School.
In 1945, she enlisted in the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps, the nation’s first uniformed U.S. service corps, which fulfilled an urgent need for nurses on the home front during World War II. While in training, she contracted tuberculosis and spent a year recovering before being able to complete her training at Massachusetts Memorial Hospital, graduating in 1949.
Married in 1953 to William T. Mansfield, Barbara began a life of relocating, due to her husband’s many transfers. While raising her children, she never lost her love of literature, gardening, theater, music, the beauty of nature, and always delighted in the laughter and the love of her family and dear friends. The family finally settled in West Hartford, Conn., where they resided for 28 years before retiring to Jensen Beach on Hutchinson Island, Fla., where she loved walking the beach and collecting beautiful seashells.
She was a very special “lady” in every sense of the word: gracious, kind, loving, generous and was a true inspiration. She will be missed deeply by all who knew her.
She is survived by daughters Charlene (Edward) Coutermash of Jensen Beach, and Colleen (Richard) Henry of Ruskin; grandson Craig E. (Jill) Coutermash of Huntington, N.Y.; and great-granddaughter Mackenzie J. Skopp of Bristol, Conn. She was predeceased by William, her husband of 56 years, granddaughter Ashley M. Coutermash, and sister Marilyn A. Brown (Sullivan).
A private memorial service will be held May 23, 2016. Interment at Arlington National Cemetery will be held at a later date, where she will again be joined with her late husband. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the American Cancer Society would be appreciated. Online condolences may be sent to
Barbara E. Mansfield, 91, died on May 1, 2016, at her daughter’s home in Ruskin, Fla., where she resided. She passed peacefully, surrounded by her loving family, after a year-long battle with cancer, which she met with bravery, dignity and class.
She was born January 4, 1925, in Cambridge, Mass., to Florence (Earle) and Harold Marshall of St. John’s, Newfoundland. She graduated from the Cambridge High and Latin School in 1942, then worked for several years at the Harvard Business School.
In 1945, she enlisted in the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps, the nation’s first uniformed U.S. service corps, which fulfilled an urgent need for nurses on the home front during World War II. While in training, she contracted tuberculosis and spent a year recovering before being able to complete her training at Massachusetts Memorial Hospital, graduating in 1949.
Married in 1953 to William T. Mansfield, Barbara began a life of relocating, due to her husband’s many transfers. While raising her children, she never lost her love of literature, gardening, theater, music, the beauty of nature, and always delighted in the laughter and the love of her family and dear friends. The family finally settled in West Hartford, Conn., where they resided for 28 years before retiring to Jensen Beach on Hutchinson Island, Fla., where she loved walking the beach and collecting beautiful seashells.
She was a very special “lady” in every sense of the word: gracious, kind, loving, generous and was a true inspiration. She will be missed deeply by all who knew her.
She is survived by daughters Charlene (Edward) Coutermash of Jensen Beach, and Colleen (Richard) Henry of Ruskin; grandson Craig E. (Jill) Coutermash of Huntington, N.Y.; and great-granddaughter Mackenzie J. Skopp of Bristol, Conn. She was predeceased by William, her husband of 56 years, granddaughter Ashley M. Coutermash, and sister Marilyn A. Brown (Sullivan).
A private memorial service will be held May 23, 2016. Interment at Arlington National Cemetery will be held at a later date, where she will again be joined with her late husband. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the American Cancer Society would be appreciated. Online condolences may be sent to