Barbara Gerhardt Merrill Rawnsley passed to eternal rest and peace on Sunday March 14, 2022.
Born in Lynn, MA, January 9, 1935 to Ivan Gerhardt and Leona Thompson both of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Barbara was raised in the Lowell area and graduated from Lowell High School in 1953 where she was leader of the “Twirler Group.”
She was predeceased by Donald Merrill with whom she had three sons.
Barbara later married William C. Rawnsley and became the matriarch of a blended family consisting of 10 children, 14 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren and their spouses.
During their 40 years of marriage, she was involved in many charitable activities for which she received numerous accolades. She was beloved and known widely in the community as “the cookie lady.”
Services were private. Arrangements are in the care of the Morse-Bayliss Funeral Home, 122 Princeton Blvd., Lowell. Funeral Director, Frederick W. Healy.
