Barbara White DeLouise, age 92, passed away on May 8, 2025 at her home at Arden Courts of Kensington. She was predeceased by her younger sister, Shirley Byrum and husband Richard DeLouise, and is survived by daughter Amy DeLouise, son-in-law John Bader, and grandsons Eli and Calvin Bader. She was an activist, educator, photographer, and life-long learner.

Barbara was born on Christmas Day 1932 in Bellefontaine, Ohio to Annie Laurie (Pearce) and James Delmas White in the depths of the Depression, soon moving to her parent’s native North Carolina. When she and her baby sister were under the age of two, their father was killed in a tragic auto accident. Their mother had to seek employment in larger cities, so Barbara was raised by a loving aunt and uncle in Franklinton, NC.

Growing up in a small town, Barbara already had her sights on the wide world. As a young girl, she pored over National Geographic magazines, and decades later always read multiple local and internationally-focused subscriptions. One of few young women in her high school class to pursue a college education, Barbara attended the all-women’s Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina, graduating with a B.A. in history in 1954. There, she was a leader in the International Club. She immediately moved to New York City to explore arts and culture while pursuing post-graduate work at Columbia University.  She paid her way as a history department typist and office assistant at the Esso Standard Oil Company, working weekends at the Frick Collection. Barbara found life as a grad student in the sexist department stifling, so after a brief job working on Hungarian refugee relief at the Save the Children Federation, she took off the summer of 1957 to embark upon a lively, 10-week adventure in Europe. She drove a Citroën 2CV -- known as a "deux chevaux" for its mere two horse-powered engine -- through French, Italian and Spanish cities and country sides, exploring new cultures and improving her photography skills.

Upon her return, she landed a position teaching history at the then all-girls Upper School of The Riverdale School in the Bronx, where she taught for a decade. She adored her students, and they loved her dynamic “multi-media” teaching style using printed visuals and slides, many of which she had taken herself. During her time at Columbia, Barbara met Richard DeLouise, who was pursuing his Masters in Economics. They married in March of 1958 and settled in an apartment in Riverdale. In 1963, she gave birth to a daughter, Amy. In 1973, the family moved to Bethesda, Maryland.

A longtime advocate for international bridge-building, Barbara served as board secretary of the Riverdale Chapter of the United Nations Association, and befriended neighbors from many countries. In New York, and later Maryland, she was active in local chapters of the League of Women Voters (LWV), hosting living room strategy meetings to advocate for passage of Title IX in 1972 and anti-strip mining legislation in 1977. She met with the Governor as LWV’s Maryland State Chair in 1979. In the 1980’s she worked in nonprofit management, including serving from 1986-87 as Executive Director of the Greater Washington Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, an early advocate for recognition of the disease and its devastating impact on families.

Throughout her life, Barbara was an active volunteer in her community. She won the Outstanding Service Award for her work on behalf of Montgomery County Youth Orchestras. Always digging in her garden that bloomed for three seasons, where she said she “felt closest to God,” she was a member of the Montgomery County Garden Club, bringing arrangements to families at the Children’s Inn at NIH. 

Perhaps Barbara’s greatest impact was through her service on the Mission and the Worship and the Arts Committees of Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church, where she and her husband both served as elders. There, she devoted her boundless energy to raising funds for a range of mission projects, many focused on improving the lives of women. She helped launch a rural Ugandan women’s microfinance fund and community health association. She raised scholarship funds for women at Forman Christian College in Lahore, Pakistan. And she was actively involved in supporting immigrant families new to the area. She also headed the New Church Development Committee of the National Capital Presbytery, working to launch new congregations for the region’s growing south Asian, Latin American and North and West African communities. At Bradley Hills, she also devised a rotating gallery to showcase the works of local artists, retaining a small portion of their sales for the church. She went so far as to have glass cut to fit particular works of art, and designed a display system for different media, including oil paintings, watercolors, quilted works, carpets, photographs, and wood block carvings.

In “retirement” Barbara became an avid photographer, travelling the country with her husband or photography groups to take unique photos which often won her juried awards at the North Bethesda Camera Club of which she was a dedicated member.  Her favorite locations were America’s great western National Parks including Zion and the Grand Canyon. And she climbed to the top reaches of the National Cathedral to get unique angles of the stained glass at golden hour.  She often photographed nature, including macro lens shots of flowers in her own garden.

Barbara enjoyed spending time with her two grandchildren, Calvin and Eli, always engaging them to expand their horizons, teaching them photography, collecting interesting rocks and shells, and attending their many musical performances and sporting events. She was also a long-time attendee of concert series at Bradley Hills Church and Strathmore Arts Center, as well as the NIH Philharmonia.

Her passion for the arts and devotion to social justice, education, and expanding rights for women will be missed, but has made an impact through generations in this country and abroad.

I lieu of flowers, a memorial gift to an educational endowment Barbara supported can be made care of Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church (see link below, click "Memorial Gift" and add Barbara's name in drop-down menu.