“We will see you tomorrow, Mom.”
“If the Good Lord is willing and the creek don’t rise.”
On August 26, 2026, the Good Lord willed that Barbara Rose Shenefiel Myers, 93, of Williston, Vt., go home to be with her husband, Gilbert, and her deceased family. A service to celebrate Barbara’s life will be on Saturday, September 5, 2026, 11 a.m., at the Essex Center United Methodist Church with Pastor Rev. Dr. Joel Daniel Hubbard III.
Barbara died peacefully of heart failure at the McClure Miller Respite House after several years of care at home by her family and friends because of Alzheimer’s. She was predeceased by her husband, Gilbert, in 2020, after 65 years of marriage. They raised two extraordinary children: Christopher Myers (San Angelo, Texas, with wife Sharlene) and Amy LaChance (Essex Junction, Vt., with husband André). She was so proud to be “Nana” for her grandchildren: Elijah Timmothy LaChance (Shrewsbury, Vt., with wife Megan), AnnaGrace Thérèse LaChance (Williston, Vt.) and Zinnia Maleekah LaChance (Birmingham, England, with partner Edward James Loveman).
Barbara was born to David and Rosa Hoxie Shenefiel in her Hoxie grandparents’ farmhouse on June 18, 1933, in Napoli, N.Y. She was the third of seven children and spent her early years on her parents’ dairy farm in Randolph, N.Y. She often recalled life during the Great Depression without modern lighting, an indoor bathroom or an automobile. The Shenefiel family gathered to enjoy their battery-operated farm radio and listen to popular programming. Barbara often replied “the Shadow knows” whenever someone would say “Who knows?,” quoting one of her favorite lines from those radio broadcasts.
Barbara was especially fond and proud of her father, having been born as a “Father’s Day present.” During World War II, David built a small windmill to generate a few watts of electricity for their farmhouse. Electric power lines did not extend to their remote farm until 1945, when her father helped organize the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Rural Electric Cooperative, bringing commercial electricity to their rural community. Barbara often said she thought her father liked being an electrician more than farming.
Barbara married her childhood sweetheart (Gilbert Myers) in Napoli, N.Y., in October 1955, after Gilbert sold his motorcycle to purchase the engagement ring. They were soon sent to Fort Knox, Ky., for Gilbert’s U.S. Army basic training. Barbara often talked about their next move (Bad Nauhiem, Germany) and traveling in Europe, where she worked as a nurse. They returned to Randolph, N.Y., in 1957, then moved to Boston for Gill to attend Boston University School of Law while Barbara supported him as an OR nurse at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Barbara loved her work at the hospital, and she played a key role in the first-ever hip replacement surgery. The doctors at the hospital also loved having her there, so much so that they offered to help Gill obtain a job at any law firm he wanted in Boston as long as Barbara worked at the hospital. However, both Barbara and Gill were tired of city life and by now were raising their young son. They decided they wanted to raise their family in a quieter, more rural setting that reminded them of where they had grown up. So they packed up and followed one of Gill’s law school friends to Vermont. After living in Poultney, Vt., for a few years, during which time they had their daughter, they settled in Essex Junction and Essex Center. After both children were in school, Barb worked as Gill’s office manager and paralegal for the Myers Attorney offices in Essex Junction, where she worked with some wonderful people, including friends Jean LaGrange and Toddy Ferguson. But she eventually found her favorite “job” of all: helping to raise her grandchildren.
Known as “Nana” to her grandchildren and many others who enjoyed being included in her life, she excelled at quilting, knitting, sewing, and caring for her grandchildren and for “Papa” (Gilbert). The many “Nana Hats” she knitted for Amy’s elementary school students were legendary. She was always there when her family needed her the most, caring for them through illnesses and the everyday challenges of life. Whether it was doing a quick load of laundry or watching her grandchildren over a long weekend, Nana was a constant and loving presence to her family. Nana appreciated the simple things: waking early, the color blue, her birds at the feeders, coffee ice cream and going out for dinner (almost always ordering salmon). She was an avid quilter, frequently going to quilting conventions and fiber festivals with her youngest sister, Lola. Having completed dozens of quilts over the years, she gifted most of them to her friends, children and grandchildren.
Barbara and Gill shared some hobbies and were avid bird-watching partners, traveling all over to observe their unique birds. They enjoyed summers at Prince Edward Island in their later years and loved visiting Barbara’s sister Lola on Chebeague Island in Maine. Barbara and Gill were very engaged with members of the Essex United Methodist Church, contributing in whatever ways they could to their faith community.
In addition to Gilbert, Barbara was predeceased by her parents, David and Rosa; brothers Bruce and David Shenefiel; and sisters Margaret Shenefiel Bailey and Allegra Shenefiel Lake. She is survived by her siblings Randall (Frances) Shenefiel, (Falconer, N.Y.) and Lola (William) Armstrong (Chebeague Island, Maine). Barbara’s ashes will be mixed with Gilbert’s ashes and spread in a private ceremony on PEI at a future time. The family wishes to thank the members of the church who regularly visited Nana and brought her to church outings (especially Claire Noble). Special thanks to Dr. Pam Dawson at Thomas Chittenden; Ann Laramee, NP at University of Vermont Health; the talented pharmacists at Vermont Family Pharmacy; and the wonderful people at UVM Home Health & Hospice. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Barbara’s name to the Essex United Methodist Church. The family invites memories at awrfh.com.