Barbara (Hamber) Wessels

SALISBURY — Barbara (Hamber) Wessels died peacefully in her room at Noble Horizons on Dec. 21, 2010, at the age of 88.

She was born Barbara Jane Hamber in New Rochelle, N.Y., on Jan. 24, 1922, daughter of the late Catherine and Harvey Hamber, who years later moved to the Taconic section of Salisbury.

Barbara first came to Salisbury during the summer of 1935, when her family rented a cottage on the South Shore Road of Twin Lakes. This is where she met her future husband, Arthur Kellogg Wessels.

After graduating from New Rochelle High School as class valedictorian in 1940 she attended Wellesley College for two years before marrying Art in 1942.

Art’s work for Union Carbide took them to Niagra Falls, West Virginia and Ohio before moving to Old Greenwich, Conn., in 1954.

While in Old Greenwich, Barbara became a real estate broker and then worked at the Greenwich Hospital Thrift Shop. In 1980 she and Art moved to Southbury, Conn., to be closer to Twin Lakes, where they were in residence from April to October.

After Art passed away in 1993, Barbara stayed in Southbury a few years, before moving to Noble Horizons.

She will be remembered for her intellectual prowess, independent spirit, love of the written word and skill as an accomplished gardener.

Barbara’s family is very grateful for the generous love and respect the staff at Noble Horizons gave her during her many years of residence there.

She is survived by her three children, Debbie Nagle of Florham Park, N.J., John Wessels of Durham, N.C., and Tom Wessels of Westminster, Vt.; her three granddaughters, Margie Kenning, Laura Zakhar and Kelsey Wessels; and her four great-grandsons, Quinn Kenning, Colin Kenning, Kevin Zakhar  and Eamon Kenning.

Donations in her memory may be sent to Noble Horizons for the John R. Elliot Scholarship Fund, to support staff and family members seeking nursing as a profession.