HUNTINTON – 
Rev. Barbara C. Paulson, of Huntington, MA, passed away on June 14, 2019 at home surrounded by her family. Rev. Paulson was the daughter of Frank and Ruth Earnest of Williamsport, PA, and was pre-deceased by her brother, Frank Earnest, III. She was pre-deceased by her two husbands, Robert B. Cunningham, Jr., to whom she was married to for 31 years before his death in 1979, and Robert A. Paulson, who died in 1989 after 5 years of marriage.
Surviving are five children, Scott and Elaine Cunningham of No. Granby, CT., Mark Cunningham and Silvia Mestres of Barcelona, Spain, Amy and Michael Porter of Huntington, Laurie Cunningham and Peter Golash of Haydenville, and Ruth and Mario Caban of Port St. Lucie, FL.
She is also survived by six grandchildren, Ian and Felicia Cunningham of Allentown, PA, Rachel and Kirk Brightly of West Hartford, CT, Geoffrey and Ellen Cunningham of Pittsfield, Michael and Ashley Porter of West Dover, VT, Matthew Porter and Anna Mefford of Putney, VT, and Kasey Caban of Houston, TX; and great-grandchildren Nekearel, Amelia, Vena, Janel and Dean Brightly, Silas and Isaac Cunningham, and Wilder Porter.
She also leaves her nieces Barbara and Leroy Sherk, Cathy and Pierre Thiemann and her nephew Ric Earnest and Andrew Pennoni, along with many friends in the ministry and going back to high school in Williamsport, and the parishioners in the First Congregational Church of Huntington at Norwich Hill.
Rev. Paulson graduated in 1946 from Williamsport High School, attended Connecticut College in New Haven, CT, received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ, and her Master of Divinity from the Harvard Divinity School. She was ordained in 1988 and served 20 years as pastor at the First Congregational Church of Huntington, where she retired in 2008 at 80 years of age. In 2010 she was awarded Pastor Emeritus at the church by her congregation. She also served as chaplain at the Northampton State Hospital and VA Medical Center in Leeds, was a member of the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ, and a long-time hospice volunteer.
Rev. Paulson was active over the years in the Hilltown Community Development Corp., Huntington Board of Health, Hilltown Community Health Centers and for 15 years in the Interfaith Homeless Center in Northampton on the Next Step Committee. She was a member of the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Antiquarian Booksellers and the Ephemera Society of America. From 1965 to 1980, Rev. Paulson was an English teacher in Teaneck High School (NJ), before retiring and moving to Huntington in 1981.
Many thanks to the nursing, home care staff and volunteers of the Cooley Dickinson VNA & Hospice for caring for Rev. Paulson in her home during the last year of her life, to Winsome Christie for her loving care, and to her friend Susan Macintosh for her faithful visits over the last few years.
Arrangements will be handled by O’Brien Funeral Home in Easthampton. Burial at the Brookside Cemetery will be private. A memorial service will be held on Sat., June 29 at 11 a.m. at the First Congregational Church in Huntington at Norwich Hill, 6 Searle Rd. (01050). Memorial donations in Rev. Paulson’s name may be made to the First Congregational Church, or to a charity of your choice.
