In Memoriam: Barbara Heavers

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Barbara Heavers, a woman whose devotion to conservation, agriculture, science, education, and public service has left a lasting and beautiful legacy for Charlestown and all of South County.

The Charlestown Citizens Alliance was honored to support Barbara’s election to the Charlestown Planning Commission in 2014, where she received the highest number of votes. Barbara’s Ph.D.-level education in biology, her experience managing a farm, and her deep understanding of the natural world informed the land-use discussions and decisions of the Planning Commission.

Barbara permanently protected large pieces of Charlestown’s landscape and environment. Barbara and her husband, Richard, were instrumental in defeating the nuclear power plant proposed for what is now Ninigret Park and the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge. Much of Barbara’s farm is protected in perpetuity through a conservation easement she donated to the Charlestown Land Trust. After completing the preservation of her own farm, Barbara became an unrelenting ambassador for land conservation, making sure that any large landowner she encountered understood there were alternatives to development.

Barbara taught at the university level, was a founding member of the Meadowbrook Waldorf School, and served as a teacher and Science Department Head at Moses Brown School. In retirement, she earned a degree in Drawing and Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design and set out to capture the beauty of our local environment and community in her art.

We will honor and remember Barbara for many things, but who she was and her connection to Charlestown is best described in her own words: “We have invested our lives in a small corner of the town (literally), the Pawcatuck River on the east and the Town line on the south. It is a place free of nighttime lighting, which makes for great stargazing; it is quiet, which means I can hear the peepers at night; and it is clean, which means the air, snow, and rain are healthful. I travel the northeast corridor regularly, and I am always grateful to come back to this lovely place.”

We are grateful for our time with Barbara and for the beauty she has left us with. Our thoughts are with her family.

You can read more about Barbara at her CCA profile and in her recent obituary.