Barbara Dickinson McDowell, a longtime Shelburne resident who dedicated 22 years to Burlington High School, died Monday, January 5, after a short illness, according to her obituary. She was 91.
McDowell served as an administrative assistant at Burlington High School from 1978 to 1999, a position her family described as one “she loved for 22 years, while making many longtime friends,” according to the obituary.
Born March 9, 1934, in Champlain, New York, to Howard and Winifred Prouty Dickinson, McDowell graduated from Brandon High School in Vermont in 1952 and earned an associate’s degree in liberal arts from Vermont Junior College in 1954, according to the obituary.
She married Richard Parmelee “Pete” McDowell on April 23, 1955, and together they raised five children, according to the obituary. The couple built a welcoming home where their dining room became “a welcoming place for a wide variety of Pete’s and Barbara’s friends as well as the friends of their children, who always found a chair at the table to share a holiday dinner or a Sunday afternoon,” the obituary stated.
After retiring from Burlington High School in 1999, McDowell embraced travel, taking shopping trips throughout New England and journeys to Belize and Mexico, according to her family. Her favorite destinations were annual trips to Maine, where she and her husband would “just relax on the beach and eat lobster,” the obituary noted. Her family remembered her as “a master at cleaning lobster, never missing a knuckle or the minute amount of meat in the legs.”
McDowell was known for her competitive spirit, whether “on the paddle or tennis court or at the dining room table, where she was a formidable opponent at her favorite card and board games, cribbage and Scrabble,” according to the obituary.
She maintained a strong connection to her faith community, serving as a parishioner at Shelburne Methodist Church for over 50 years, according to the obituary. The church will host her memorial service at 11 a.m. on June 13, 2026.
During her final 14 months, McDowell resided at the Arbors, according to the obituary, which expressed gratitude “to the entire team at the Arbors.”
McDowell is survived by daughters Susan Stevens and her husband Stuart, and Maryanne Bianca and her partner Jerry Hoffman, according to the obituary. She is also survived by son TJ McDowell and his partner Deb Wehrlin, along with six grandchildren: Taylor Stevens and his fiancée Melissa Kinville, Gregory Stevens and his fiancée Jamie Latuch, James Bianca, Caitlin Bianca Covey and her husband David Covey, Jacob McDowell, and Emma McDowell. She leaves behind one great-granddaughter, Madison Stevens, according to the obituary.
Additional survivors include her sister Hilda Welch and brother Thomas Dickinson, along with numerous nieces and nephews, the obituary stated.
McDowell was predeceased by her husband Richard, son Christopher, daughter Sandra, brother Howard M. Dickinson Jr. and his wife Tilly, brother-in-law Richard Welch, and sister-in-law Eileen Dickinson, according to the obituary.
The family has requested donations be made to a charity of one’s choice in lieu of flowers, according to the obituary.
