Longtime Melrose resident
NORTH ANDOVER — Barbara B. (Dunlap) Beck, 88, a resident of North Andover and formerly of Melrose, passed away peacefully at home on Thursday, Sept. 18.
She was born on Dec. 21, 1925 in New Haven, Conn., one of three children of the late Chester and E. Louise (Berry) Dunlap. She was raised in Malden where she graduated from Malden High School.
She received a bachelor’s degree in Biology with a minor in Music from the University of New Hampshire, Class of 1946. On June 14, 1947, she married the late Carl E. Beck and they settled in Melrose to raise three daughters.
A longtime resident of Melrose, Barbara was a member of the Melrose Highlands Congregational Church and worked at the Kappa Swap Shop for many years. She had a lifelong interest in classical music, particularly in the piano.
She was the beloved wife of the late Carl E. Beck, with whom she shared 51 years of marriage. She was the devoted mother of Linda B. True and her late husband Donald of Merrimack, N.H., Martha J. Brown and her husband Austin of Wells, Maine and Priscilla Beck of Pembroke. She was the dear sister of the late Elizabeth “Betsy” Goodwin and Winifred “Bobby” Strong. She was the cherished grandmother of Eric True, Nicholas True, Jennifer O’Brien, Collin Joyce and Preston Joyce. She was the loving great-grandmother of Stella True, Eden True, Abigail O’Brien and Austin O’Brien.
Relatives and friends will gather in honor and remembrance of Barbara’s life for a Celebration of Life Service at Edgewood Retirement Home, 575 Osgood St., North Andover on Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 2 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, gifts in her memory may be made to the Merrimack Valley Hospice House, 360 North Ave., Haverhill MA 01830 or American Cancer Society, 30 Speen St., Framingham MA 01701.
For online tribute or to share a memory, visit RobinsonFuneralHome.com.
