Lois Mansur Barrows

Lois Mansur Barrows died on May 22, 2026, at the Greensboro Nursing Home where she has recently made her home following failing health.

She was born on November 4, 1931, at home in Weston, VT, The daughter of the late Frank Mansur and Lena (French) Drury Mansur.

Her parents were descended from old Weston families. At a time when change was coming rapidly to the town, Frank Mansur collaborated with others to preserve significant historic structures in the village. He donated the ancestral home and mill to the Community Club (now the Weston Historical Society).  He and Lena instilled in their daughter an appreciation for the family heritage and an interest in old-time crafts.

Lois attended Weston Graded School and graduated from Chester High School in 1949. She attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from the University of Vermont, in 1957, with a BS in education.

Before graduating from college, Lois worked for two years in the children's book department of the Harvard Cooperative Society, in Cambridge, MA. During summers, she worked at the Vermont Country Store and the Weston Playhouse.

On June 22, 1957, she married Charles Parker Barrows, of Barton.  The couple lived initially in Barton. In 1959, they moved to the brick house in Glover Village, which they lovingly restored and occupied for 56 years. They spent summers at Camp # 3, on nearby Shadow Lake, named " Haven of Rest" by the original owners, Charles A. and May Louise Barrows, grandparents of Charles. On June 20, 2015, Charles died, after several years with progressive Parkison's disease. Lois sold the house and moved to an apartment in St. Johnsbury. In 2025, she moved to the Craftsbury Community Care Center.

From shortly after her marriage, until 1967, Lois was employed by the Barton Savings Bank (later the Howard Bank) as a Proof Clerk. When Glover School established a kindergarten in 1968, she was hired as its first teacher.  From 1970 to 1974, she worked as a part-time tutor and substitute teacher. From 1974 to 1992, she worked for the Orleans Central Supervisory Union in the Compensatory Early Education Program. During the 1990's, Lois worked part-time at Currier's Market in Glover.

Beginning in the 1970's, and over a period of about 30 years, Lois owned a succession of small specialty businesses. These enterprises reflected Lois' deep and abiding interest in food, cooking, and sewing. She made many quilts, some of which were gifts to friends while others were made for fund-raising events.

Lois had a lifelong love of music, reflected in her membership in local choirs and                                                                                                                                                    choruses. She taught herself keyboard on the family parlor organ and played for her own pleasure.

She leaves a nephew, Michael Mansur, of Tijeras, New Mexico; and a niece, Maureen Mathieu, of Westbrook, ME. In addition to her husband Charles, she was predeceased by her two brothers, Wallace Drury and Calvin Mansur.

Lois will be buried  at 1 PM, on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in the Mansur family plot, in Weston, Vt.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Pope Memorial Frontier Animal Shelter, 4473 Orleans-Barton Rd., Orleans, Vt. 05860; or to the Glover Ambulance, 51 Bean Hill Rd., Glover, Vt. 05839.

Online condolences are welcomed at: northernvermontfuneralservice.com