Barbara J. Restle

Barbara passed away at the age of 100. She was born in Paris, France, to American parents Frank Ackerman Blackledge and Selma White Blackledge. She was preceded in death by her brother, Lloyd Blackledge, and her sisters, Audrey Hoch, Claire Dauphin, and Joan Norman. Barbara's children are her daughter, Kathy (Peter) Post, of Burlington, VT; her son, Phillip Restle (Judy Mason), of Katonah, NY; and her daughter, Andrea (Mike) Restle-Lay, of Raleigh, NC. She was also a proud grandmother of five and great-grandmother of three. Barbara spent her early years in France and Egypt, completing her elementary schooling in Baden bei Wien, Austria, near Vienna. As WWII broke out, the family left Europe and settled in Teaneck, NJ, where Barbara graduated from high school. She trained as an x-ray technician and worked in New York City for three years. In 1950, Barbara married Frank J. Restle, Jr. They lived in Palo Alto, CA, while Frank earned his PhD in Experimental Psychology from Stanford University, and Barbara worked at Stanford's Medical School Hospital. The couple later lived in Washington, DC, where Frank worked for the National War College, then in Lansing, MI, where he taught Psychology at Michigan State University. In 1961, they settled in Bloomington, IN, where Frank was a Professor of Psychology until his death in 1980. In Bloomington, Barbara and her family raised Aberdeen Angus cattle. She became active in environmental issues, serving as President of the Sassafras Audubon Society in the mid-1970s. During this time, she earned her BA in Journalism and Political Science at Indiana University and obtained her private pilot's license. She later served with the Peace Corps as a livestock officer in the South Pacific and wrote a non-fiction book about her experience, Shadow Over Fiji. Eighty-six acres of the Restle Farm are now part of the U.S. Muscatatuck Fish and Wildlife Refuge near Bloomington, and 50 acres are owned by the Sycamore Land Trust, which has grown into an 800-acre contiguous wetlands refuge. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Sassafras Audubon Society, Sycamore Land Trust, Shalom Homeless, or a charity of the donor's choice.

Tributes

Barbara J. Restle

June 7, 1926 - July 27, 2026