Barbara Smith

Barbara A. (Morris) Smith, of Westborough passed away peacefully on Feb. 1, 2026, surrounded by loved ones after a long battle with illness.

Born Aug. 12, 1936, in Worcester, daughter of the late G. Ernest and Jacqueline (Burnett) Morris, she lived in Manchester, Connecticut, in her early life. She attended Milton elementary schools and high school until her family moved to Hopkinton — a town where her family had summered at Lake Whitehall for three generations, including her great grandmother, Mae A. Hill, of American Indian heritage — and she graduated from high school there.

As a young girl, Ms. Smith was a Rainbow Girl, a Brownie and Girl Scout, a member of her high school field hockey team in Milton and of the glee club at Hopkinton High School. She enjoyed camping, swimming, boating, reading, traveling and gardening as well as activities with her grandchildren, including motor sports as a spectator. After high school, she worked at Dennison Manufacturing Co. in Framingham, in the office and as a store clerk in several stores in the Framingham and Westborough area.

After settling in Westborough in 1957 and raising her two sons, Barbara truly rooted herself in the heart of the community. Since 1969, she owned and operated the Community News Service, eventually breathing new life into the century-old Westborough Chronotype in 1987. She was a fixture of the town’s social and political life, attending annual meetings with a keen eye and a sharp pen. While she was a tireless advocate for the community, she was equally relentless with the truth — reporting local news with a directness that left no stone unturned and, occasionally, no ego unbruised. She loved her town immensely and was never afraid to ask the right questions. She finally stepped back from her tireless, solo stewardship of the paper at age 69.

Though a dedicated resident of Westborough, Barbara’s life was enriched by her time spent elsewhere. She was a seasonal fixture of both the Rhode Island coastline and the Florida Gulf, spending her summers in South County, Hope Valley and Hopkinton, and her winters in Naples.

Ms. Smith is survived by her life partner since 1966, John F. Keefe of Westborough; son Michael W. Smith of Reno, Nevada; five grandchildren, Eric M. Smith (Alise Bartolini) of Dudley, Thomas E. Smith (Ashley Smith) of South Lake Tahoe, California, Jacqueline A. Petrell (Nick Petrell) of South Lake Tahoe, California, and Brianne E. Patterson (Chris Patterson) of Auburn; and many beloved friends.

Barbara was blessed with seven great-grandchildren: Evey, Emerie and Elohn Smith (California), Gavin and Conor Patterson (Massachusetts) and Alex and Addi Petrell (California).

Barbara was lovingly reunited with those who passed before her: son Eric R. Smith (died 2001), grandson Timothy M. Smith (died 2008, U.S. Army KIA), and former husband Warren D. Smith (died 1997).

A celebration of Barbara’s life will be scheduled for a later date. The family is so thankful for the kindness shown to them. To honor Barbara’s legacy of giving, the family invites gifts to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in lieu of flowers.

Obituaries are submissions, typically from funeral homes, that are not subject to the same level of editorial oversight as the rest of the Hopkinton Independent. Obituaries may be edited for grammatical and factual mistakes and clarifications and shortened for space considerations.