Barbara K. Fenimore, 83, of Portsmouth, RI passed away on February 13, 2025 at South County Hospital in South Kingstown, RI.
Barbara was born on October 14, 1941 to John Robert Kircher and Lilian Larson Kircher in Troy, NY. Barbara was a graduate of Milne High School and Russell Sage College.
Barbara spent her life passionately dedicated to family, friends, and community. She was a strong and incredibly intelligent woman who gave all she had to everyone around her. It brought her great joy to help others. She delighted in supporting her three children and later her six grandchildren. She enjoyed playing Bridge, crossword puzzles, novels and reading several papers daily (Wall Street Journal, NY Times, and any local paper she could get her hands on). She spent all of her years dedicating any spare time to support the community she lived in by volunteering as PTA president to Meadow Pond Elementary in Vista, NY, both Girl Scout and Cub Scout leadership, working at Haldane HS in Cold Spring, NY, helping the NY Guard programs to assist children in need and leading a support group for families. Later in Rhode Island, she volunteered at the Newport Classical Music Festival and also worked with a group very close to her heart called Seed Starters: Rhode Island Wild Plant Society, an organization working to bring back native plants to restore local environmental integrity.
As an avid and talented gardener this brought her great joy in her later years. Her own home gardens were a testament to this, filled with butterflies and surrounded my many bird species she drew in delightfully with her many bird feeders allowing her to enjoy her bird watching passion from the comfort of home. A warm and inviting home for her children and grandchildren that often filled the rooms with laughter, games, and stories. Rooms decorated in her ancestral Swedish colors of blue and yellow that she held dear with pride and continued on in her own mother’s traditions with her masterful cooking of Scandinavian delights. Barbara’s love of cooking, creating magical holidays and her beautiful gardens made her home a place everyone wanted to gather in.
Just as Barbara loved watching her three children grow and thrive, she truly delighted in watching her grandchildren grow into their own individual talents and personalities. Although for all of us that loved and knew her wish there was more time, she has left us with so much love to carry in our hearts.
Barbara is survived by her brother Robert Kircher, her daughter Krista Hook, Joseph Hook, their children Isabella, Joey and Claire, her daughter Rebecca Burnside, Chris Burnside and their daughter Amelia, and her son John H. Fenimore VI, Yui Fenimore and their sons Jamis and Henry.
Visiting hours will be held Friday, February 21 from 5:00-7:00 PM at O’Neill-Hayes Funeral Home, 465 Spring St, Newport. A Funeral Mass will be held Saturday, February 22 at 11:00 AM at St. Mary’s Church, corner of Spring St & Memorial Blvd, Newport. Burial Memory Gardens Cemetery and Memorial Park, Albany, NY.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Barbara’s memory to any one of these charities, Lupus Foundation of America https://www.lupus.org , St. Joseph’s Indian School https://www.stjo.org/ , and the National Audubon Society https://www.audubon.org/
Like Newport Buzz? We depend on the generosity of readers like you who support us, to help with our mission to keep you informed and entertained with local, independent news and content. We truly appreciate your trust and support!
