October 9, 2026: Memorial Service for Barbara Restle

Barbara passed away on July 27, 2026, 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 spent her early years in France and Egypt and completed her elementary schooling in Baden bei Wien, Austria, near Vienna. As World War II began, her family left Europe and settled in Teaneck, New Jersey, 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. They later lived in Washington, DC, where Frank worked for the National War College, then in Lansing, Michigan, where he taught Psychology at Michigan State University. In 1961, they settled in Bloomington, Indiana, where Frank was a Professor of Psychology until his death in 1980.

In Bloomington, Barbara and her family raised Aberdeen Angus cattle. Over the course of her life, she pursued many interests and careers, including work as a journalist and publisher, farmer, writer, beekeeper, Peace Corps volunteer, and pilot. She earned her BA in Journalism and Political Science from 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.

Barbara also became a passionate advocate for the environment. Beginning in the 1960s she worked to protect the natural world with a determination that made her both devoted friends and formidable opponents. She served as President of the Sassafras Audubon Society in the mid-1970s. Although she never received a lifetime achievement award herself, her impact is reflected in the rare distinction of having two lifetime achievement awards named in her honor, one by the Sassafras Audubon Society and another by the Sycamore Land Trust.

Her environmental legacy can also be seen in the land she helped preserve. Eighty-six acres of the Restle Farm are now part of the U.S. Muscatatuck Fish and Wildlife Refuge near Bloomington, while another 50 acres are owned by the Sycamore Land Trust and have become part of an 800-acre contiguous wetlands refuge.

Barbara is survived by her daughter, Kathy (Peter) Post, of Burlington, Vermont; her son, Phillip Restle (Judy Mason), of Katonah, New York; and her daughter, Andrea (Mike) Restle-Lay, of Raleigh, North Carolina. She was also a proud grandmother of five and great-grandmother of three.

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.

Quote from a pioneering Ecological-Activist:

"You know you're onto something when they threaten you."

Author and Editor:

The Balancer [Newspaper], 1960's

Shadow over Fiji: A Memoir, 2000

Alpha Women: And their Men, 2008

Meadowood Anthology 1905-2011: Memories in Miniature, 2012