Barbara Ann Pine of Guilford died peacefully on June 28 at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, on Dec. 30, 1941, Barbara was the daughter of William B. Pine and Ingrid B. Pine. She attended Warwick Veterans Memorial High School, Warwick, Rhode Island, and graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1964.
From 1966 to 1968 Barbara served as an instructor for the U.S. Army Education Office in Germany. After returning to the United States, she became a social service caseworker for the Westchester County Department of Social Services, assuming greater responsibilities during her three-year tenure. While developing a pilot program for Family Day Care in Nassau County, she attended Adelphi University part-time, earning an MSW degree.
From 1972 to 1980 she served as a cooperative extension specialist at Cornell University, based in New York City. In 1980 she accepted a position as associate project director and later became the director of the New England Regional Child Welfare Training Project based at the University of Connecticut.
Barbara joined the faculty of the University of Connecticut School of Social Work in 1984 and taught there until 2006, earning a PhD at the Heller School of Brandeis University in 1991. She wrote numerous articles on special needs adoption, ethical decision-making, family preservation and reunification, and child welfare policy; chaired the administration concentration at the university; and coauthored several books, including three on family reunification that have had significant impact on both the profession and social policies here and abroad.
Never one to be idle, Barbara used her retirement to help local organizations. She served as a board member of Guilford Parks & Recreation for eight years, from 2007 to 2015, and was particularly proud of the landscaping and significant improvements to Jacobs Beach during her tenure. In 2009 Barbara joined the board of Guilford A Better Chance, a program that brings academically talented girls of color from educationally challenged communities to live in Guilford and attend Guilford High School in preparation for college. Barbara wore many different hats on the Guilford ABC board, including responsibility for overseeing major renovations to the house on Church Street where the scholars live. Most recently, she served two terms as ABC board president (2014 to 2017) and was working toward a smooth transition to new leadership until days before her death.
Devoted to social justice, Barbara also had a significant social life that included wide circles of close friends. She loved to entertain, and cut an elegant and stylish figure wherever she went. Among the many tributes from friends around the world, the most common refrain has been that she was “a bright caring light in the world.” She also was a private person, loath to worry friends with her health problems, and an eternal optimist who believed that she would conquer her illness.
She is survived by her husband of 37 years, Larry (Lawrence) Dowler.
Memorial gifts in Barbara’s name may be sent to Guilford A Better Chance, P.O. Box 140, Guilford, CT 06437; or to Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, 45 Whitney Ave., New Haven, CT 06511.
A celebration of Barbara’s life is being planned and will be announced at a later date.
