1938 – 2014

BRUNSWICK — Barbara H. Clark, 75, of 6 Warren Circle in Lisbon Falls, passed away at Parkview Adventist Medical Center, following a nearly lifelong struggle with the effects of polio and post-polio syndrome on Saturday, March 8, with family at her side.

She was born in Biddeford on Sept. 12, 1938, a daughter of Robert M. and Thelma (Demers) Haggett. She lived in Maine during her very early years, moving with her family to New Jersey, Georgia and Maryland, where she lived in Havre de Grace and Aberdeen, graduating from Aberdeen High School in 1956.

Barbara developed a great love of dance when she was a young child, taking dance lessons until November 1950, when polio forced her to live in a body cast for 11 months.

Once the acute stage of the polio had passed, she started hanging around the local dance studios, helping the younger students and secretly resumed taking lessons again, paying for them with her babysitting money. When her mother found out, she agreed with Barbara that they were helping with her recovery and allowed her to continue. Barbara went on to study at the Hilltop School of Theater and Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, and the American School of Ballet in New York.

When the local dance school closed, she opened her own, teaching on Saturdays. Her teen years were filled with lessons, teaching and performing with the Hilltop Theater, USO and other local performance groups.

Barbara’s family moved back to Maine, where she met and married David H. Clark of Kittery. During their marriage, they lived in York, Portland, Falmouth, South Portland, Presque Isle and finally, Lisbon Falls.

A divorce in 1977 was the impetus to help create a support group for separated and divorced men and women called Becoming Single Again, in which she remained active until 1985.

She loved model trains and anything tiny, like her. She had considerable artistic talent and enjoyed painting beautiful little works of art to frame and hang on dollhouse walls. She also crocheted lacy tablecloths and bedding for dollhouses and painstakingly stitched tiny, ornate oriental rugs on a miniature scale.

Barbara had a love of life and family, and a quirky sense of humor. A photograph of her with her feet in a top hat prompted the comment “… that’s crazy, Grammie,” from her eldest grandchild, Lorra. That comment tickled her soul and from that moment on she became “Crazy Grammie” to her grandchildren.

Barbara worked at the Lisbon Town Office as tax collector for many years and also worked part-time at Sears and L.L. Bean.

Survivors include her sister, Donna Haggett, of Hingham, Mass.; daughters, Tracy Gosselin of Lisbon and husband, Robert, and Deborah Clark of Sabattus and husband, Darren Birckbichler; son, Michael Clark of Otisfield and companion, Nicky Heckenberg; niece, LaDon (Haggett) Hinchey of Churchville, Md., and husband, Tab; and nephews, Ken Scott of Elkton, Md., and wife, Samantha, and Steve Scott of Bel Air, Md., and wife, Rhonda. She was blessed with five grandchildren, Lorra Gosselin, Amanda Gosselin Holden, Justin Hartung, David Holland and Maverick Clark; and three great-grandchildren, Jade, Ryen and Ava.

She was predeceased by her parents; a brother, William “Bill” Haggett; a nephew, William “Billy” Haggett Jr.; and a granddaughter, Sandra “Sandy” Gosselin.