Elisabeth Posselt Barker

KENT — Elisabeth Posselt Barker died in Portland, Oregon on June 14, 2022. She was born on Dec. 31, 1937 in New York City to Oscar and Lisbeth (Griesser) Posselt, who had separately emigrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1930. The family moved in 1941 to a farm property in Kent, Connecticut, where Betty attended Kent Center School and Housatonic Valley

Regional High School (HVRHS). She later received degrees from Bennington College and the University of Michigan before settling in Portland with her husband, Tony Barker, after their June, 1965 marriage.

Betty was a long-time teacher of English and French at the Beaumont Middle School in Northeast Portland and accompanied groups of students on exchange trips to France. After retiring she trained as a Master Gardener and served as a volunteer with Planned Parenthood, political campaigns, Portland’s public radio station and Ariadne Garden, an award-winning community garden in her neighborhood. She also traveled repeatedly to Lucca, Italy, to study Italian and explore a country she came to love.

Betty is survived by her son, Abe, of Seattle and two beloved grandchildren, Melissa and Duncan, as well as a brother, Harold Posselt, and his wife, Edie, of Storrs, and sister, Catherine Bachrach and husband Bill, of Kent. Her brother, Ted, predeceased her. Other survivors include nephews Theo and Daniel Posselt and nieces Jaime and Andrea Bachrach, and many devoted friends and former students.

Betty’s husband, Tony Barker, died in Portland on April 3, 2022. Tony, who grew up in Goshen, also graduated from HVRHS and later Colgate College and the University of Michigan Law School. He leaves many family members in the greater Goshen area.