LANESBOROUGH, Mass. - Barbara A. Thayer, 92, of North Main Street died in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015, at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield.

Born in North Adams on July 8, 1923, daughter of Edward and Aimee Blanchard Caldwell, she was raised there and attended local schools. After graduating from Drury High School with the class of 1941, she attended Bliss Business College and then moved to North Orange, where she lived with relatives while working at L.S. Starret in Athol in support of the war effort. She also attended Alderson Broaddus College in West Virginia.

Mrs. Thayer and her husband, James H. Thayer, met while she was working in the purchasing office of the former Sprague Electric in North Adams. They had been born three weeks apart in the same hospital but didn't meet until they were both 26 years old. Following a brief courtship, they were married in 1950 and moved to Burlington, Vt., where she worked in the student personnel office at the University of Vermont while Mr. Thayer finished earning his civil engineering degree. They then moved to Texas, staying there only two years before returning to Massachusetts.

They settled in Lanesborough, where they bought a 100-acre farm and raised a family. She and her husband started one of the earliest tree farms in the state, which they managed predominantly for timber and wildlife. Following Mr. Thayer's retirement from the former General Electric in 1988, they moved to Kissimmee, Fla., for several years enjoying the sunshine and warm weather before returning to Lanesborough to be closer to family.

Mrs. Thayer had for a period of time reported Lanesborough news for the Berkshire Eagle; prior to her marriage, she also had worked at the former Gale Shoe Co. in North Adams, was very active in everything at the North Adams First Baptist Church, singing in choir, teaching Sunday school and holding Children's Church every Sunday. She had been an active member of the Lanesborough Republican Committee, and also volunteered with the Literacy Volunteers of Berkshire County. Her husband died in October 2011.

She leaves two sons, Edward James Thayer and Paul Robert Thayer, and a daughter, Deborah Ruth Thayer.

Another daughter, Aimee Elizabeth Thayer, died unexpectedly in April 2012.

FUNERAL NOTICE - Mrs. Thayer's family will receive relatives and friends on Thursday, Oct. 22, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the family home, 402 North Main St., Lanesborough. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Lanesborough Public Library in care of Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals, Central Chapels, 74 Marshall St., North Adams, MA 01247. A private service will be held at the cemetery for family and friends at a later date.