Barbara Wanamaker Clements

FALMOUTH, Mass. – Barbara Wanamaker Clements, of Falmouth, Mass., a retired nurse practitioner who specialized in gerontology, died of lung cancer on Feb. 14, 2022, with her sons beside her. Born in 1935 in Teaneck, N.J., the only child of George and Irene Wanamaker, Barbara graduated from Villa Madonna Academy near Covington, Ky., in 1952. She attended Rosemont College in Philadelphia for two years and earned a BSN from Columbia University School of Nursing in 1958. She went back to school after years of nursing and raising a family to earn an MSN from UMass Lowell in 1987. Barbara worked multiple nursing jobs during her career, from private duty nurse and visiting nurse with Falmouth VNA to Director of Nursing at Falmouth Hospital, and finally as a nurse practitioner, providing primary health care at Tewksbury State Hospital. While living in Maine during the 1990’s, she was instrumental in helping the National Organization of Nurse Practitioners implement legislation that defined administrative roles for nurse practitioners nationwide.Barbara met Theodore (Ted) Clements while living in New York City; they were married in 1960 and later relocated to New Jersey, where they had four boys. In 1971, Barbara and the boys moved to Falmouth, Mass., where she remained until 1984, when she moved to Methuen, Mass. to attend UMass Lowell for her MSN. In 1991, she and her partner Carol Bailey relocated to Litchfield, Maine, where Barbara worked at St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston; they lived there until Carol’s death in 2010, whereupon Barbara returned to Falmouth to be near her family.Barbara was an avid reader and political activist, an active member of the Falmouth UU, devoted to social justice and environmental conservation. Her wide range of activities included competitive swimming, choral singing, kayaking, wood and stone carving, and just about anything outdoors, especially on or near the beach. She enjoyed boating and fishing and was always first in the ocean well into her eighties. She will be greatly missed by sons Tim Clements, Doug Clements, Charles Clements, and Greg Clements, daughters-in-law Robin and Brenda; grandchildren Timothy, Corey, Courtney, Dylan, Camryn, Nolan, and Delaney; and eight great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at the UU Fellowship of Falmouth, date and time to be announced.For online guestbook please visit http://www.chapmanfuneral.com.