EAST BARRE - Barbara Fantoni, a longtime resident, passed away peacefully on Thursday, March 26, 2026, at Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin.

Born November 27, 1928, on the family farm in Washington Heights, to Sadie (Wood) and Nelson Smith. She was the oldest child with a younger brother, Robert Smith. Barbara grew up in Washington and attended school there before graduating from Spaulding High School in Barre.

In 1955 she married Charles Fantoni and they resided in Barre. They had two sons, Kim (KC) and Aldo. In 1966 the family moved to East Barre and lived there since.

She worked at Whimsicality in East Barre and at the Rock of Ages' main office for nine years. For more than 30 years she worked seasonally in tax preparations, first for The Girls Tax Offices and then for Lee White & Associates in Barre. She retired in 2015.

Barbara was a Girl Scout Leader in Washington in the late 1940s and 1950s. She was an active member of the Barre Town School PTO for several years during the 1960s and also a Cub Scout leader and helper. She was a member of the Green Hills Homemakers Home Dem group in East Barre, where she was an active member for over 50 years, serving as their treasurer from 1966 to 1972, and an officer on the county level for over five years, having begun her membership with the Barre City Home Dem in 1966. She was named Lady of the Day in May 1971. Barb was very active in helping and organizing when the national convention came to Shelburne in 1992. Her projects included making small quilts for those in need and making pies to sell for the benefit of the Barre Town Fire Department at the annual Father’s Day BBQ.

Barbara was Charter Member number 25 and now member-for-life of the Northern New York American and Canadian Genealogy Society. She had a long history of researching genealogy records. In 1991 during the Bi-Centennial Celebration, she volunteered to assist the Averills in the building of a Long House in the woods behind Barre Town School and teaching Native American Heritage.

For many years, Barbara volunteered at the election polls for Barre Town checking off names and giving instruction on how the ballot process worked.

Barbara was always highly active in the East Barre Congregational Church as a Sunday school teacher, a deacon, and a member of the Ladies' Auxiliary. For many years she furnished the church all summer with cut flowers from her half-acre garden. Since 2010, she was solely responsible for the upkeep of the triangular flower garden at the roundabout in East Barre.

Everyone knows of Barbara Fantoni in the East Barre Community from the many, many years of her contributions to the Harvest Sale by providing home canned goods, pickles, and pies from her garden. In 2005, she and Charlie canned 1,800 jars and made 100 pies for the sale.

She leaves behind her two children Kim (KC) Fantoni and his partner, Pam Titus, of Grand Isle, Vermont, and Aldo Fantoni and his wife, Jodie, of Fort Meade, Maryland; the true joy of her life were her grandchildren Daniel Fantoni of Fairfax, Vermont; Aleta Fantoni of Huson, Montana; Maria (Fantoni) Callaghan of Bedford, New Hampshire; and Gina Fantoni of Huntsville, Texas; and four great grandchildren Maeve, Emma, Carlo, and Maura as well as a niece and nephew.

In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her husband Charles, and her brother Robert Smith and his wife, Alice.

The service to honor and celebrate her life will be held on Friday, May 22, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. in the Hooker and Whitcomb Funeral Home, 7 Academy Street, Barre with burial immediately following at Hope Cemetery 201 Maple Avenue, Barre. There are no calling hours.

In lieu of flowers, we invite you to support the Barre Area Senior Center, 131 South Main Street, #4, Barre, VT 05641; 802-479-9512.