WESTFIELD – Barbara May (Hewes) Hill, 92,(1927-2020) passed away at home after a short illness on Sunday, March 29, 2020. She was born in Goffstown, N.H.to the late Norman M. and Ethel (Taylor) Hewes and was a 1945 graduate of Westfield High School. She worked for the Registry of Motor Vehicle Dept for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for 32 years as a teller and retired in 1992. She also worked for the City of Westfield as the first switchboard operator, was a clerk for many departments and was the longest clerk for the Water Dept.
Barbara was a devoted single mother who sacrificed her own needs in life in order to provide for her three children. She was always present to support and guide them with every aspect of their lives and readily shared her motherly wisdom and her life’s experiences to keep them on a straight and narrow path. She was a strict disciplinarian but applied both fairness and love to the punishment. Barbara’s greatest accomplishment was to live to see her children grow into caring, responsible, successful adults who exhibited a strong work ethic and moral compass. Family was most precious to her in life, as well as the happy memories she created with them, and for them to cherish. Barbara loved nature and animals. She enjoyed walking her dogs at Stanley Park, her trips to Old Orchard Beach, Maine, traveling to Scotland, England, Nova Scotia, Disneyworld, Pennsylvania Dutch Country and two cruises to Bermuda. Barbara loved to be surprised by spur of the moment lunch picnics in the park with her daughter to get away from work for an hour and bond with one another. Barbara lived her life with courage, grace and dignity. She was kind and compassionate, in her various job settings, always performing her best to serve others. She was a proud grandmother and great grandmother. Barbara was very much a lady, who was admired for her young looks, sense of fashion and “never a hair out of place” appearance. Her passing has created an empty space in the hearts of those who loved her that no other can replace. She entered this life quietly at birth and departed as peacefully as a whisper on a gentle breeze.
Sadly she was predeceased by a son Gary MacFarland and her dear cousin Ruth F. Hansen. Barbara is survived by her daughter, Lynn MacFarland of Westfield and a son Keith I. MacFarland and his wife Josephine of Westfield, her three grandchildren, Heather M. MacFarland, Lance A. Nitkiewicz and Ian M. MacFarland, one great granddaughter and a new great granddaughter on the way in April. She also leaves her beloved cat, Misty.
All service are private and at the convenience of her family. Donations in her name may be directed to the American Cancer Society, 59 Bobala Rd. #2, Holyoke, MA 01040 or to the Cancer House of Hope, 1000 Westfield St. West Springfield, MA 01089. Ww.firtionadams.com
