Barbara Ellen Burford

BARBARA ELLEN BURFORD died Feb. 13, 2018 at the Hulitar Hospice Center, Providence, with her husband by her side. To the very end she enjoyed & participated in the banter of a dozen family members who stayed with her over the weekend. Barbara was born in Springfield MA on Aug. 23, 1947, growing up in Webster NY, eldest child of David Parson & Wilma Jean (Stanton) Cole. A Girl Scout in Webster, she graduated from their high school, R.L. Thomas, then graduated from American University (Washington DC). Married August 16, 1969, her first child was born in Naples Italy in 1970 at the U.S. Navy hospital, Barbaras husband being stationed there. Back in the states, they served out their enlistment at Newport RI, then settled across the Bay in their Narragansett starter home that she lived in the rest of her life. Barbara leaves her husband of 48 years, Robert Sterling Burford of Narragansett, son Patrick David Burford of Brownfield ME, daughter Jennifer Rebecca Biafore & her husband John of Wakefield RI, grandchildren Olivia Elizabeth and Owen Patrick Burford and Joseph Robert, Samuel John and Maxwell Terrance Biafore; brothers David S. Cole and wife Bernice of Providence, and John P. Cole and wife Lynn of Baden Lake NC, as well as nieces and nephews and many friends. Barbara was 32 years the office manager for local family dentist, George Emerson Moore III, DDS, while then active in South County Junior Womens Club and the Kingston Congregational Churchs The Group. An ardent fabric crafter in later years, she participated in the Narragansett Bay Quilters Association and Ninigret Quilters Guild, as well as Kate Conroys Stoney Lane Basketry classes. Devoted mother and grandmother, happiest when in the midst of her familys activities, NanaBabos cheering will be missed as she spent countless happy hours on the sidelines of youth sporting events. A Memorial Service to celebrate the life of Barbara Ellen Burford will be held on Saturday May 12th 2018 at 11:am, Kingston Congregational Church, 2610 Kingstown Road, Rte 138 in South Kingstown across from main University of Rhode Island entrance. The service will be followed by an informal reception in the church's Fellowship Hall. Barbara's friends all welcome. Her family will later retire for a graveside interment. please donate to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (the Jimmy Fund or other), Boston MA; the Philip Hulitar Hospice Center, Providence; and the Kingston Congregational Church Womens Fellowship.