Nancy K. Barrett

Nancy Kinsley Barrett of Hooksett and Sunapee passed away peacefully on April 7th, 2025, after a long period of declining health.

Nancy was born March 15, 1936 to James and Delia Kinsley in Hartford, CT; she was the youngest of three children. Summer trips to her dad’s family farm in Quebec were among her favorite childhood memories. Years later, she visited Ireland to meet her mother’s relatives.

Nancy was educated at St Joseph’s School, Mount Saint Mary Academy and graduated from Hartford College for Women with a degree in retailing in 1957. She delighted in her work as a buyer at Sage Allen in downtown Hartford.

Nancy married Thomas Barrett in 1958. From the beginning, Nancy and Tom were a team, an inexperienced team with lots to learn. Nancy accompanied Tom to England in 1959 as he began a tour of duty with the US Air Force that would last three and a half years. During that tour, Nancy and Tom lived in the tiny English village of Snape, had three children, and travelled widely west of the Iron Curtain. Isolated from friends and family, Nancy had to transition from young bride to wife and mother while living in a new and strange environment.

Returning to Old Saybrook, Connecticut in 1962, Nancy and Tom had two more children, and Nancy learned to manage on Tom’s meager earnings as he started an insurance agent’s career. In 1965, they moved to New Hampshire, and, in 1971 they started their own insurance agency, Barrett Insurance, Inc. Nancy studied accounting at New Hampshire College, became a licensed insurance agent, and took over as treasurer of the agency.

Nancy was a wonderful person who got along with anyone and everyone. Her warmth and cheerfulness extended to all those around her. Anooka Farm in Hooksett became the family home where Nancy raised her five kids with a love of the outdoors. Decades of beautiful Christmas, holiday and family celebrations were hosted by Nancy, always gracious, at the helm.

Gardening was Nancy’s passion at Anooka Farm; the beautiful gardens there are a testament to her skills. Those skills she shared with others through the Hooksett Garden Club, where she was a founding member, president, and recipient of a lifetime achievement award.

Nancy supported her community with dedicated service on many committees, including the Hooksett Public Library. She was elected library trustee at a critical time when Hooksett was acquiring the library’s current location. She helped plan the renovation of the building and the move. She was one of the library’s best users; she never went anywhere without a book to read.

Her summers were spent with her family sailing the coastal waters from Connecticut to Maine; later Nancy and Tom sailed the intracoastal waterway to South Carolina, then a transatlantic cruise to Europe and exploring the Mediterranean from end to end. Winters were spent skiing Mt. Sunapee, instilling a lifelong love of the sport in their kids and grandkids. The number of brown-bag lunches Nancy packed was astounding; she froze her toes gatekeeping for the Mt. Sunapee Ski Club, so her kids could take ski lessons there.

With family obligations complete, Nancy convinced Tom to leave the ocean for a townhouse at Lake Sunapee and spent the next twenty years sampling Sunapee’s four-season offerings.

One of Nancy’s proudest moments was the founding of a private foundation to support charitable giving. Through the foundation, dozens of charities are awarded thousands of dollars each year.

Nancy leaves behind her husband of 66 years, Tom; daughter Wendy Gettel and her husband Roger of Merrimack, their children Eliza and Tucker; son Christopher Barrett and his wife Tracy of Loudon, their children Erin and Caitlin; son Matthew Barrett and his wife Judy of Goffstown, her children Lauren and Bradley; daughter Judith Currier and her husband Frank Wilich of Bethlehem, her children Megan and Bridget; and son Kenneth Barrett of Priest Lake, ID. Nancy also leaves two great grandsons and her many relatives in the Kinsley family in the country, Canada, Ireland, and England.

She was predeceased by her parents, brother George, and sister Mary.

Nancy spent over a year as a resident of The Courville at Manchester. Her family wishes to thank the Courville staff for the loving care they provided Nancy while she was with them.

Services: Friends and family are invited to gather for calling hours on Wednesday May 14th from 5 - 7 pm at Lambert Funeral Home and Crematory, 1799 Elm St, Manchester, NH. A Mass of Christian Burial will take place on Thursday May 15 th at 10am at St. Catherine of Siena Parish, 207 Hemlock St, Manchester, NH. Committal prayers will immediately follow the ceremony at the New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery, 110 Daniel Webster Hwy, Boscawen, NH.