Gail Wright

Barbara Ducat (Escoffier) obituary….

https://www.keohane.com/obituaries/barbara-escoffier

Posted on: Nov 04, 2024 at 11:51 PM

Hello, all. It is with great sadness I share that one of our classmates from HHS passed away Nov. 3. Barbara Leigh Ducat Escoffier died after a short illness. Barb and I had been in touch often since leaving Hastings and increasingly over the last ten years; our lives took a strange parallel path with life events at almost the exact same times. We missed our 50th reunion with you all while on a wonderful trip through Europe, followed a few years later by ten days in Paris and Normandy. We had another trip planned but COVID and eventually her health caused us to cancel.

Barb moved from California to Mass during COVID to be closer to her daughter and her family. She loved being with her three grandchildren who gave her great joy and pride. She will be missed by them and many others.

This is all very new, I am in touch with her daughter regularly and she has been Barb's major support the past few years. When a formal obituary is shared, I will include it on this page.

Barb had so many wonderful memories of Hastings and HHS and the people we knew. She and I had some antics that if our parents knew....well, better left unsaid. She was not a fan of social media (one night on that first cruise we convinced her to create a Facebook page which she promptly had me close later that night) while I am at least a FB fan; this seemed the best way to let this be known. I ask for thoughts for her family, which while small, was close and loving.

When I can share more, I will put it here.

Gail

Posted on: Feb 21, 2022 at 8:44 PM

Carol,

I was so sorry to hear of Rich's passing. I hope that your long time together will provide you and your son's and family many wonderful memories to sustain you now and in the future.

Gail Wright

Hi everyone!
These are strange days for sure! I am fortunate to be able to work from home for my part time child advocacy position; our office closed to the public 3.20 and we all decided that for us and our families, working from home was best. Schools shut and went to NTI thinking it would be just until Spring break. Since, school has been deemed over for the year. I ache for the seniors and since I’m on the School Foundation Board, we are working with school administration trying to make it special any way we can. Our courts have been closed to all face to face hearings and what can be done by Zoom or Skype. I’m actually attending a virtual adoption on Tuesday! We have had dockets rescheduled three times already...we’ve stopped advising our volunteers about changes as it was becoming overwhelming. All our small businesses are shut down; restaurants are doing take out and delivery and small businesses are doing on line or phone ordering and curbside pick up. Add to that, the weather has been as un predictable as possible...not unusual for KY, but this is extreme! I had been scheduled to go to Jen’s outside of Boston for ten days at the end of March, early April to help her out while her husband traveled to India on business. When his trip was postponed even before things got really serious and began shutting down (best decision ever), I reluctantly cancelled mine and am making Do with regular FT calls for Jen and my grandson, 5. We are just hoping school will resume so he can begin kindergarten on schedule. Them all being home, Jen and Adam working and keeping Charlie engaged and occupied is a challenge as I’m sure many others are facing.

Barbara Ducat Escoffier and I made another Viking trip in Late September, early Oct. This time, we started with three days in Paris and then 8 days up the Seine to the beaches of Normandy. The history of the area was spectacular and the beaches and cemeteries dedicated to those who lost their lives during the Normandy invasion were very emotional to,say the least. The small towns along the way were wonderful....many were untouched by the Invasion; one extremely moving moment was a tour guide who had his aunts diary and shared excerpts of it. She wrote it as a 16 year old from the perspective of living just two doors down from the Gestapo headquarters in their little town. She wrote of the fear of not knowing, of fearing a knock on the door and of someone going out but not returning. She prayed for their “normal”.... I don’t think there was a dry eye on the bus as he read.
Beyond that, life moves on. To occupy myself, I’m making masks for friends, family and our medical community. My high school graduation present sewing machine is getting a workout! It deserves a service appointment when this is over. Other than that, Im socially distanced visiting with friends, walk when the weather is decent and try to stay reasonably sane and healthy! All my family are doing well, isolating and behaving (even my 80 plus year old brother and sister in law on the Cape....if you remember him, yiu can imagine the challenge THAT IS!!! ??)

As for a reunion or something for 55, distance for me is an issue. It’s nearly impossible to get anywhere from here without two flights, but it’s always a possibility! I hope you are all staying well, busy and engaged. Our class has a lot to be proud of and I have loved catching up through this page! Stay well and happy....

Gail

Happy birthday, Jay! Hope you are well and enjoying retired life!!!

I was so sorry to read of Tony's passing.  I remember him as quiet, caring and smiling.  mynthoughts and prayers to his wife and family.  

Posted on: Oct 17, 2016 at 8:27 PM

Hey everyone. It looks like the reunion was wonderful and congratulations to all who had a hand in getting it organized. At Laurie's suggestion, I've posted a few pictures from Barb's and my trip. It was fantastic....we started in Amsterdam, then Cologne Germany, Nuremberg, Salzburg, Vienna and Budapest and a number of smaller ports in between. The history and beauty was amazing. There were so many meaningful moments....the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam; the cellar in Nuremberg that was used to protect, preserve and save artifacts from churches and museums during WWII--this was the place that was the focus of the book and movie "Monument Men"; the cathedral in Cologne that somehow escaped damage during WWII as bombs dropped all around it; and the food!!!! And the beer!!!! Barb and I and our traveling companions, friends of hers from CA, and two lovely couples we met on board celebrated the evening of the reunion dinner....we had cheese and crackers from Amsterdam with wine from....somewhere. The picture of me with the wine glass is from that evening. You were in our thoughts!
The pictures are out of sequence and include a couple from my grandson 's second birthday. I started and ended the trip with a few days on either end at their home outside of Boston.