Barbara Baker O'Brien peacefully left this life on Thursday October 20. Born in 1924, Barbara was a loving, funny, spirited woman whose life was filled with enduring friendships, deep family connections, intellectual pursuits and a love of the arts and education.

Born and raised in New York, "Bobbie" was the daughter of John H. Baker, President of the National Audubon Society, and Elizabeth Dabney Baker. She forever identified as a Manhattanite, despite residing in the Philadelphia suburbs for most of the past sixty-five years – and often shared fond memories of roller skating to school, dancing at the Rainbow Room, going to the triple feature movies with her father in Times Square and swooning at the Paramount for the young Frank Sinatra. Barbara made it a point to spend time in New York throughout her life with her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, ensuring she passed on her love of the city --and her consummate knowledge of its most interesting nooks and crannies.

Barbara was educated at the Brearley School and Smith College and followed an unconventional path for a young woman of her era and upbringing. She served as a guest editor for Mademoiselle magazine during college, and following graduation lived in San Francisco, where she worked at House and Garden magazine and managed the office of an independent photographer. She later resided in Paris as secretary to a woman writing a memoir of her love affair with Thomas Wolfe, and went on photo expeditions to the Marais with Robert Doisneau. Returning to the US, she worked for Columbia Artists in New York.

One fateful weekend Barbara attended a dance at the Merion Cricket Club outside of Philadelphia and met the love of her life, David O'Brien, who famously tracked her down after their meeting by calling (with the help of the Manhattan operator) every Barbara Baker in New York City until he found her. Following their marriage later that year, Barbara moved to the Main Line, where she and David raised their two daughters Christina and Sarah.

A loving, imaginative and creative mother, Barbara also remained involved with the working world, particularly through Philadelphia's Center for International Visitors, where she helped organize homestays for foreign visitors. This connection resulted in a constant stream of international guests through the O'Brien household - many of whom became lifelong family friends. She also volunteered at the Philadelphia Art Museum, worked on the program committee for the US Bar Association's Philadelphia convention, and pursued graduate courses in art history at the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1970 Barbara was hired by the Shipley School to lead their Art History program, and remained at Shipley for more than a decade. Hundreds of students benefited from her expertise, her warmth and her inspiration, and many went on to major in art history and pursue related careers. When David's law firm asked him to split his work between Philadelphia and New York, Barbara was thrilled by the chance to move back 'home' – and spent another happy decade of teaching at the Brearley School – her alma mater.
David and Barbara traveled frequently across the US and Europe, most often to France, where their eldest daughter Christina had settled, and to New England, where they spent many happy summers on Squam Lake and made regular visits to Sarah and her family, who had settled in Vermont. Barbara was a skilled travel planner in the days before the internet, consulting her Michelin guide and Rand McNally atlas and sending a steady stream of letters back and forth to hotels and restaurants to ensure fascinating and memorable trips. Following her retirement from Brearley, she became the guide on many trips for the Smith College Alumnae and a docent at the Barnes Foundation, as well as a visiting lecturer in art and garden history around the US and abroad.

Throughout her life Barbara was a warm hostess, opening her house to family, friends, and international visitors, and making guests of all ages and origins feel genuinely welcome. She was always ready to create a memorable occasion – picnics to Amish Country, canoe trips in the Pine Barrens, elegant evenings and informal gatherings. Her greatest happiness was having her children, grandchildren and dear friends gathered for a meal or an occasion, and she always made entertaining seem effortless. She and David possessed a wonderful group of close friends who shared their interests in intellectual pursuits, travel, fine wine and cuisine, and laughter at life's absurdities.

Despite living at a distance from her grandchildren, Barbara was an involved, entertaining and loving presence in all their lives. Christie's children Nathalie, Mathieu, Laura and Kelly spent many happy summers in Philadelphia and on Squam Lake, and Barbara and David spent many happy months in France visiting them. Sarah's children Willa and Clare also spent idyllic visits on Squam Lake with "MommyO and DaddyO" and had the great pleasure of Barbara's extended stays in the apartment she built onto their home in Vermont. Her dedication to both art and her grandchildren was evidenced by her willingness to see the Lion King eight times on Broadway, so that every child had a chance! And the whole family spent many wonderful creative Christmases full of crafts and cooking and lengthy tree trimming ceremonies accompanied by champagne and seasoned with laughter.

Barbara was predeceased by her dearly loved husband David O'Brien and her beloved sister Joan Shepardson, who departed this life just weeks before her. She is survived by her daughters Christie and Sarah, their partners Serge and Randall, her grandchildren Nathalie, Mathieu, Laura, Willa, Kelly and Clare and spouses Laurent, Camille, Emeline and Adam, and her great grandchildren Eléa, Lucile, Côme, Leni, Charlie, Martin, Maël, Lou and Lolita.

A memorial service for Barbara's life will be held at 1 o'clock Saturday November 26th - Thanksgiving weekend - at Beaumont at Bryn Mawr, (601 North Ithan Avenue, Bryn Mawr PA). Thanksgiving was always a high point of the year for the O'Brien family, shared for fifty years with David and Barbara's closest friends Neill and Shelley Osborn and their clan, and it will be a fitting time to give thanks for Barbara's long, full and remarkable life. Please join us if you can.

Contributions in Barbara's memory may be made to her favorite charities Médecins Sans Frontières and Philabundance.

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders : PO Box 5023 Hagerstown MD 21741-5023

Philabundance : 3616 S. Galloway Street Philadelphia PA 19148