Barbara A. Mccauley

Barbara Ann (Etheridge) McCauley, 89, of Charlestown, passed away peacefully in the early morning hours of September 23.

Barbara was born March 30, 1934, in Providence, RI to Edward and Eva Etheridge. As a young girl Barbara and her family split time between their home in Providence and their summer house at Roy Carpenter’s Beach in Matunuck, RI. Her love for the ocean would follow her throughout her entire life.

It was at Roy Carpenter’s Beach in the late 1940’s that Barbara met the love of her life, Robert McCauley. They married in 1953 and moved to Warwick in 1957, where they would raise their seven children. Barbara’s favorite memories as a mom involved spending summers with her family in Matunuck.

Family was everything to Barbara. Her home was always filled with her children and eventually her grandchildren, and even more so during holidays. Barbara shared everything she had with her family. Her greatest gift was the gift of her faith. She was a devout Catholic who, up to the very end, prayed daily for all those she loved.

Eventually in retirement, Bob and Barbara were drawn back to the beauty and tranquility of the South County coastline. They moved back to the beach full time in the late 1990’s. They especially enjoyed the fall season there, walking the very beach where they had met so many decades before. Barbara and Bob were married for fifty-six years before he passed away in 2009.

Barbara spent the next fourteen years of her life dedicated to her family and to her church, St. James Chapel in Charlestown, RI.

She never lost her sense of humor, nor her sharp wit. She had a short ditty for everything, some less appropriate than others! If you ever had the chance to ask her how she was feeling, her response was always the same... “with my hands.”

Barbara was a loving, compassionate mother to her seven children and their spouses; Bonnie and Donald Jones, Robert McCauley, Jr, Elizabeth and Christopher Conley, Kevin and Susan McCauley, Susan and Michael Walsh, Patricia McCauley, Matthew and Donna McCauley. She adored her thirteen grandchildren and seventeen great grandchildren, and her dog, Buddy. She is also survived by her two sisters, Carol Norberg and Pamela Grady.

In her final days, Barbara’s children and grandchildren gathered around her bedside to tell all the wonderful stories we had together with this amazing woman. We laughed together as much as we cried together remembering what a wonderful matriarch we had leading our family for so many years.

Visitation will be held on Friday, October 6th, from 9 to 10:30 AM in the Avery-Storti Funeral Home, 88 Columbia Street, Wakefield RI, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 AM in St. James Chapel, 2079 Matunuck Schoolhouse Road, Charlestown RI. Burial will follow at St. Josephs Cemetery, West Greenwich.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul Wakefield.

Please make checks payable to:

St Francis of Assisi Conference SVDP

PO Box 5155

Wakefield, RI 02880