“Barbara Alexander Mullarkey, 84, died at her Oak Park home on April 15, 2020.”
The obituary of Barbara Mullarkey was very sad news to read this past week. Barbara was such an important voice in Oak Park and could have won “The Institutional Memory Award of All Time” in Oak Park, if only we had one.
Her lifelong history as a native Oak Parker helped with that institutional memory, unique and pretty much unmatched in the village. She was a tireless advocate for healthy living, good transparent government, and a healthy village environment — advocating constantly for a better quality of the environmental life of Oak Parkers.
A remarkable networker, Barbara was also a person who contributed and cultivated a sense of community everywhere she was involved. Her lifelong work and specific accomplishments will be detailed by the people who know them better than I do.
But I do know that, beside all of the work Barbara accomplished on many fronts, she loved her family so very much. It was always interesting to hear what her children were doing. Her accomplished children always stood out as a credit to her. She spoke of her grandchildren with such affection, too, and delight. Barbara’s was a life very well lived, in every sense of the word.
Christine Vernon
Oak Park
