Barbara C. Ben David, 81, of Oak Bluffs, died on Wednesday morning, Jan. 29, 2025, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. She was the wife of Jules Ben David.
Barbara was born on Dec. 28, 1943, in Lancaster, Pa., the oldest child of John and Henrietta Child.
She graduated from high school in 1961, having played clarinet and saxophone for six years in the marching band, and taking as many art classes as she could. In 1964 she received a B.S. in art education from Kutztown State College in Pennsylvania. The family came to the Vineyard for summers, and had a cottage on the Lagoon, and Barbara and her siblings enjoyed swimming and sailing.
In the summer of 1967, Barbara met her future husband, Jules, on a blind date. They courted through that summer, and the following winter in Oak Bluffs, where Jules lived, and in Deposit, N.Y., where Barbara was teaching art in the elementary school. They married in December 1968, and had two children, Derek and Katrina. As the children grew older, Barbara was den mother for Cub Scouts, and she became active in Brownies and Girl Scouts, eventually serving as a Girl Scout administrator. Barbara and Jules enjoyed having Jules’ two older boys, Donald and Russell, visit during summer vacation from their Kentucky home.
The children grew and married, and the couple had six grandchildren. Barbara loved her times with the four families; weeks spent visiting the “Kentucky contingent,” her time spent in New Hampshire with their daughter’s family at their cabin, and visits with “the girls.” Visits from the off-Island children and grandchildren, and from her sister, Kate, were special for her.
Barbara is survived by her husband, Jules; her son, Derek and his wife Ilene of Sudbury; and their daughters, Alexandra and Hannah; and her daughter Katrina Araujo and her husband Durwood, and their son Tyler (Marianna) and son Noah (Barbara’s only great grandchild), Tyson (Alice), and Tristan (Haley); Donald and his wife Madeline, of Berea, Ky., and their daughter Erica (Morgan), and Russell and his wife Sharon of Lexington, Ky. In addition, she is survived by her sister, Kathryn Child, of New Bern, N.C.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to VNA Hospice, 49 State Road, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568.
A celebration of life will take place at the P.A. Club in Oak Bluffs on Saturday, Feb. 15, at noon.
