Barbara Dickerson was wife to William Dickerson and mother to Heather and Bret who love her beyond words and will miss her dearly. Barbara was born in Cook County Chicago to Marie Anne DeFrisco & Richard Lee Kempf.  She was raised by her mom both outside of Chicago & in Louisiana.  She had three siblings: Mary Jane Emery remains near Chicago & Richard Lee Kempf & Peter Anthony Gruer preceded her in death.  She has a god daughter & niece Ruth & also has nieces Maria, Holly Anne, Michelle & nephew Raymond. She had a niece Dominica & nephew Peter who preceded her in death. She attended school at Rockford University where she made many lifelong friends. She then went on to medical school but had to leave before finishing training to raise a family.  She worked in computer programming at initially Univac in PA and later on at CompuCard in CT. She even worked in a restaurant for a while to be able to be home as much as possible with family – she was a fabulous cook after all. First and foremost, Barbara was a wonderful mother to her children Heather & Bret and amazing wife to Bill. Bill & Barb met in Taos, NM when they were ski bums and also where they later honeymooned.  They were married in 1972 – first at church and then at sea after their honeymoon at dawn on Rebel on Chesapeake Bay. They both loved the serenity of being on the water and instilled that love in their children. Barb loved doing anything and everything for her children. She was a camp director, classroom mom and always had activities galore to make growing up amazing. She loved nature and the water and made these a priority with family. She enjoyed travel – either more locally to camp with family in Thousand Islands national park in Canada or later in life to whale watch in Hawaii, explore the lesser known areas of Alaska aboard a small boat and two wonderful trips to the Galapagos Islands on an even smaller boat.  The Galapagos had been on her bucket list and after visiting our whole family figured out why! She and Bill loved folk music and they often sang together while Bill played guitar.  They loved going to folk concerts and avidly followed the Kennedys. They were long time attendees at Yale for concerts and also were season ticket holders for Yale hockey. Throughout her life she loved being crafty – from sewing, to knitting, to beading.  She always had projects going and just had to decide for whom. She was completely selfless and would give anyone the shirt off her back if that'd help them out. She loved watching her birds and the feeders were always full. They were with her until the end. She consistently displayed her love for her family and her husband of 47 years.  Heather & Bret will continue her legacy of love and caring for others. She lost Bill six months ago and they are now reunited. Bill & Barb had a love we all strive to find, they always selflessly cared more about the other over themselves and got a twinkle in their eyes when talking about each other. They will always be each other's Punkins. Friends are invited to attend a memorial service Saturday at 10 A.M. in St. Joan of Arc Chuch, Hamden. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Pacific Whale Foundation www.pacificwhale.org