In Memory

Barbara Mintz

Barbara Lorraine Roberts Mintz
December 17, 1934 to May 6, 2015

Born in Honolulu Hawaii to Bertha Kuulei Kamanolau Roberts (Mahikoa) (1906-1998) and Morley Sheldon Roberts (1907-1984), wife of Grafton K. Mintz (1925-1983), and sister to Kuulei Kauhane, Leilani Kauka David Roberts, Kathy Wade, and Jane McDaniel.

Barbara’s life journey took her from Trippler Army Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Connecticut, California, Ohio, Michigan, Spain, Illinois, Taiwan, Korea (1962 to 1996), Italy, Germany, New Hampshire, and, for the last 10 years, to Boston, Massachusetts.

Her life as a writer began with an A.B. in English from Illinois College, followed by an M.S. from Ohio State University. She then spent her career as a teacher (Ohio State University; Fulbright exchanges to Taiwan National University, Pusan National University, Yonsei University, and Seoul National University; UMUC Asia, UMUC Europe; and Regis College); administrator (8th U.S. Army in Korea Language Specialist; Peace Corps TESL Trainer; Language Teaching Research Center Director, Academic Advisor and Korea (South) Area Director UMUC-Asia; Director of Academic Support UMUC-Europe; Special Projects with the School for International Training’s Study Abroad and Center for Intercultural Programs); and as a professional writer and published photographer doing a weekly column for the Korea Times(1969-1975) and for other travel publications.

Her life as an artist came later in life when she returned to the United States. Her formal studies began at Keene State College while in New Hampshire, and more recently with the Cambridge Center for Adult Education and the Academy of Realist Art, Boston where she took pride in successfully completing three Bargue drawings.

A memorial service at sea is planned for Friday, June 26th in Boston Harbor on the “Valiant” departing at 11:00 from Rowes Wharf (70 Rowes Whart at the Boston Harbor Hotel near the Rotunda). Lunch will follow at Carrie Nation (11 Beacon Street) at 2:00. All are welcome to join in sending Barbara on her final, never-ending cruise around the world.

A talented and avid artist and friend,
life was her canvas … and she painted a masterpiece.

There is no wind,
But the gold leaves drop
One, three, a dozen at a time.
A gentle letting go,
A flutter to the ground
Because it’s time.
                           -- Barbara R. Mintz
 



 
go to bottom 
  Post Comment
    Prior Page
 Page  

05/29/15 06:49 AM #4    

Joe Arden

I first met Barbara...in Seoul.  In either 1967 or 1968...at a Maryland function of some sort. We spoke on that first occasion...and several more in late 60s when I was teaching with the then Far East Division. I also recall reading/learning from Barbara's newspapers articles in The Korean Times.  Then in late 1970s,when I returned to Asia as Director of the Maryland program, i again saw Barbara quite regularly there in Korea.

Still later, I saw and enjoyed Barbara's quick wit and laughter ...in Germany and also still later in Boston.  She was a fine person.  UMUC was most fortunate...that she was as involved as she was...over so many years/decades.   And, I am very glad to have known Barbara Mintz.


05/29/15 02:16 PM #5    

Daniel Bennette

My condolences go out to the family and friends of Barbara. Barbara and I were coworkers while she was in Heidelberg, Germany working for UMUC. I also had the occasion to team-teach a couple of courses with Barbara while we were working for UMUC-Europe. Barbara was a kind and gentle person, with a great sense of humor. She will be missed.

-Dan Bennette


05/30/15 12:55 PM #6    

John Golembe

 

The Barara Mintz I remember with fondness and admiration was neither a poet nor an artist. I wish I'd know more of those skills much earlier but only really learned of them later when friends repeatedly reported how very accomplished she was.  

The Barbara I remember is someone I met briefly on a TDY to Korea in the late 1980s and then worked side-by-side with when she transferred to the European Division in the 1990s.  The story, as I recall, was that Barbara owned a condominium in Seoul that was being completely renovated -- perhaps even had been torn down -- to which she would return once the construction work was done. When I realized what a wonderful, skilled and dependable colleague Barbara was, I would repeatedly ask her, "How's the condo coming?" and would breathe a sigh of relief when she replied that they were making no progress whatsoever.  There was no way we wanted to see her depart.  

Barbara's talents for the things the ED needed done were so remarkable, her work ethic so dependable, her managerial skills so outstanding that she quickly became the colleague to whom we repeatedly turned for an ever-growing list of critical matters.  I can clearly her recall her working nonstop on the dusk-to-dawn shift for the ED's response to the Army RFP without the slightest hint of tiredness to produce quality work and keep the wheels of the process turning.  And then there was that incredible sense of humor so full of insight and her unruffled personality even under the most extenuating of circumstances.  

It was sad for us in Heidelberg when Barbara departed Europe and sadder still she has left us so finally now. But what a wonderful person and what wonderful memories she has bequeathed to us all.  Evelyn and I miss her terribly.

 

 


05/30/15 07:00 PM #7    

Timothy Maga

My fellow Asia Marylanders were unique, brilliant, adventurous, and made a difference one student at a time.  Some, without question, had a profound influence on my life, such as Jay Dobbin and Emory Trosper.  Both have passed.  One of my "bucket list" objectives has always been to thank those who made that influence, even if I had met them only briefly.  I'm guessing that Barbara Mintz wouldn't have even remembered me if I had knocked on her door, met her at a restaurant, etc.  But I so value our long-ago discussions with great fondness, particularly on poetry, and I always wanted to tell her that face-to-face.  C'est la vie.  One of those discussed poets was A.E. Housman from the Victorian era, and the following poem of his, I believe, is most fitting. Rest in peace, dear friend.

"With rue, my heart is laden.  For golden friends I had.  For many a rose-lipt maiden.  And many a lightfoot lad.  By brooks too broad for leaping.  The lightfoot boys are laid.  The rose-lipt girls are sleeping.  In fields where roses fade."

Tim Maga


06/02/15 06:53 PM #8    

Dave Norris

When I began my teaching career with UMUC in 1987, I had three mentors: Drs. George and Bernice Dicks, and Barbara Mintz. Barbara was my grammar mentor. Whenever I had a question about grammar or documentation, Barbara was my first stop. George and Bernice were only in Korea a short time, so Baraba became my main advisor for many years. Barbara was a fine teacher who cared deeply about her students. She had a kind heart and alway found time for her students and one pesky newbie teacher. I hope we meet again some day.


06/03/15 01:44 PM #9    

Mary Jones

A lady I wish I had had the opportunity of knowing. What a wonderful life she had!

Mary Jones

 


06/18/15 05:19 PM #10    

Larry Hepinstall

Barbara Mintz and her husband,Grafton, were among the original post Korean War Old Korea Hands. Their love, respect and, yes, admiration for the Korean people were evident in their writings in the Korea Times and their activities in the Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. However, Barbara's most important contribution was in cultivating Korean-American understanding as a University of Maryland (as we called UMUC in those days) English teacher. I would be remiss if I did not, also, pay my respects to her colleague and Old Korea Hand, Mr. Im Sang-bin, our respected and loved Korean language teacher and later UMUC language coordinator for Korea who passed some ten years ago. (KATUSA Sargeant Im was a teaching assistant in my first Maryland Korean language class at the Yongsan Education Center in 1959). I don't think we can overstate the importance of these two teachers and the University of Maryland as a forward looking international institution in nurturing ties between peoples. For over forty years, the number of American and Koreans who survived Barbara's and Mr. Im's classes are in the thousands. What better way to learn to respect and understand another culture than to have the experience of sitting side by side in a classroom where all students, Privates, Sergeants, Colonels, and Koreans are treated with equal respect. The students who passed through Barbars's classroom were held to the standards of a major American university. Whatever grade they received, they knew they deserved it, but more importantly, they gained confidence that they could compete with students in any university in the Unted States. Hundreds of Barbara's students went on for their bachelors and graduate degrees. I always remember how hard my own Korean neqhew worked in Barbara's ENGL 101 class. He was happy with his "C". He later receved a Ph.D. from Yale and is now a full professor at Seoul National University.

Barbara, I salute you! Thank you for your friendship and lasting contributions to UMUC and Korean-American relations. Your always positive attitude and steady hand will be sorely missed.


07/03/15 10:06 AM #11    

John Gustafson

I am sorry to have missed Barbara's memorial service. I had known her since 1980, I think, when I arrived in Korea. My wife Un Suk had known her before that. Barbara's life indeed seemed to revolve around language. In addition to teaching English, she had written the chapter on South Korea for one of the top travel guides--Fodor's or Frommer's--and took it as a mild affront that they continued to use her chapter without her further approval or updates.

Besides running into each other at Camp Coiner, we commuted to some of the same teaching locations. She introduced me to a word game that we carried on for several years that began with one person offering three letters in the middle of a word as a clue for guessing the whole word. Of course she was very good at it.

I saw her from time to time after I left Korea in 1988 at Overseas Marylanders' gatherings. She had not changed and it is hard to imagine having to say farewell.

 

 


07/31/15 02:38 AM #12    

Dennis Gwynn

As a fellow teacher at yongsan, I know Barbra gave full measure as  her class and mine always finished at 9:30.  As an administrator, she phoned a lawyer and helped my new wife get a visa to the usa in spite of an obstructionist embassy clerk.

Barbra, I'm grateful..... thanks


02/10/16 04:28 AM #13    

Debra Rosenthal

Barbara was an utterly unique individual, in all the best ways.


go to top 
  Post Comment
    Prior Page
 Page