Wife of Harvard native, executive secretary, active in Berlin community affairs
Barbara St. John. (Courtesy photo)
Barbara N. (Nixon) St. John, age 93, a longtime resident of Berlin, and more recently of Boylston, died Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017.
She is survived by two children, Kenneth R. St. John and his wife, Peggy, of Boylston, and Theresa Y. St. John and her husband, Russell E. Tobine, of Forest City, North Carolina; a daughter-in-law, Carol St. John, of Apple Valley, Minnesota; four grandchildren, Stefanie St. John and Jeffrey St. John and his wife, Laura, all of Massachusetts, and Adam St. John and Troy St. John, both of Minnesota; three great-grandchildren, Rangeley St. John and Roan St. John of Massachusetts, and Jackson St. John of Minnesota. She was predeceased by her loving husband of 63 years, Alfred L. St. John Sr., who was born and raised in Harvard and died in 2010, and by their eldest son, Alfred L. St. John Jr., of Apple Valley, Minnesota, who died earlier this year. A brother, Ralph W. Nixon Jr., of Littleton, also predeceased her.
Born in Brighton, the daughter of the late Ralph W. Nixon Sr. and Madeline (Glazier-Parsons) Nixon, Barbara was raised in Littleton.
A graduate of Burdett College, Boston, Barbara worked as an executive secretary and payroll assistant at White Research Associates in Boston, Haven Manufacturing in Clinton, and Blackstone Plush in Clinton; as a secretary to Judge Morris Gould Law Firm in Clinton, and as secretary and purchasing agent at Amory Chemical in Clinton.
A member of St. Joseph the Good Provider Church, Berlin, since 1953, Barbara was a den mother for the Berlin Cub Scouts, and she was a former member of the Berlin Historical Society.
Upon retirement, she served as a ballot clerk for the town of Berlin, and she helped with Meals on Wheels. She was past secretary and past president of the Berlin Senior Citizens. For a short time, she was a spokesperson for Cable Senior News in Berlin.
Barbara’s funeral was to be held Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017, at the McNally & Watson Funeral Home, 304 Church St. in Clinton, with a Mass at St. Joseph the Good Provider Church, 52 West St. in Berlin. Burial will follow in North Cemetery, Berlin. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Boylston Firefighters Association, P.O. Box 634, Boylston, MA 01505.
