BARBARA MALLORY Obituary (2021) – New York, NY

MALLORY– Barbara Baker. Barbara Baker Mallory died peacefully in Palm Beach, FL on May 2nd surrounded by her three children. The eldest daughter of Alice and John D. Baker, Barbara was born in 1936 and was raised in New York City and Buck Hill Falls, PA. She graduated from the Madeira School and Bennett College with a degree in Interior Design in 1956. In 1957 she married Thomas Downs Mallory of Bradford, PA and Palm Beach, FL. After briefly living in New York City following her husband’s U.S. Army enlistment, Barbara and Downs moved to Tuxedo Park, NY in 1964. For the next 35 years they raised three children and enjoyed an active, outdoor lifestyle. Barbara managed her own interior design company; she was one of only a few women at the time in Tuxedo Park to run her own business, Barbara Baker Interior Design, and to use her maiden name in her work. Her projects ranged from Tuxedo Park, and nearby New York City, to Nantucket, Florida, Chicago, Sun Valley, and Jackson Hole. In her community, she became president of the Tuxedo Park Garden Club and eventually the Orange and Dutchess County Garden Club, while also volunteering extensively with the Tuxedo Park Club, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, and the Hudson Valley chapter of the Nature Conservancy. Perhaps most unique to Barbara was her vigor in sports. On the golf course she was only the second person in Tuxedo Park Club history to win the club championship five times. In the fields and streams she was a master wing shooter and gifted fly fisherwoman. She was an amateur mycologist and an outstanding cook of wild game. Barbara was elected into the International Women’s Fly Fishing Association which is composed of the top female anglers worldwide. Downs accompanied her when the group travelled internationally on fishing expeditions to Russia, New Zealand and Patagonia. In 1999 Downs and Barbara moved to Wilson, WY and Palm Beach, FL. In Wyoming she continued to hunt and fish while entertaining her many friends and extended family at their beautiful home alongside the Teton Mountains. They enjoyed being members of the Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis Club and played many rounds of golf with friends. In Florida, they reconnected with old friends, enjoyed the Bath and Tennis Club, the Everglades Club, and the Society of the Four Arts while keeping up their sporting life. Like her red hair Barbara was a bold and boisterous mother, grandmother, aunt, godmother, and wife for 61 devoted years. She loved all people, animals and natural things and her indomitable spirit gave her the courage to face her last 11 years with Alzheimer’s. She was not afraid to talk about her disease and helped many people cope with this same diagnosis. Barbara is survived by her older son Thomas D. Mallory, Jr. of Atlanta, GA; daughter Meredith Mallory George of Darien, CT; younger son Baker D. Mallory of Ridgefield, CT; nine grandchildren; and sisters Alice Cullen of Villanova, PA and Joan Baker of Santa Fe, NM. She was predeceased by her husband Thomas Downs Mallory. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in memory of Barbara Baker Mallory to: Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, 34 Washington St., Suite 310, Wellesley Hills, MA 02481.