Obituary for Barbara Heath Drury

Barbara Heath Drury of Putnam, CT, died on March 16, 2007 at Matulaitis Nursing Home. She was 97 and a Putnam resident since 1998.

She was born September 1, 1909 in Trinidad, West Indies, the daughter of Rev. Edwin J. Heath and Mabel Graham Heath. As a young child, she moved to Winston-Salem, NC, when her father became a teacher and dean at Salem College. In 1926 the family settled in Bethlehem, PA, where Rev. Heath was appointed president of what was then Moravian Seminary and College for Women.

Mrs. Drury attended Salem College and earned her bachelor of arts degree at Moravian College for Women. She then earned a degree in library science from Columbia University. As a librarian, she worked at Lafayette College, Easton, PA, Princeton University, and much later at the county library in Somerville, NJ.

In 1940 she married John J. H. Drury of Princeton, and the couple lived in that area for several years before moving to Martinsville, NJ, where they resided for 25 years. In 1971 they retired to Marco Island, FL, their home for 27 years. Mr. Drury died in 1981.

Mrs. Drury was known for her skill in needlework, gardening and handcrafts, including furniture refinishing and upholstery. In Florida she studied shell craft, cultivated tropical fruits and won awards for flower arranging. She was a member of the Garden Club, American Association of University Women and the League of Women Voters. A lifelong music lover, in her earlier years she sang in several choirs.

Mrs. Drury is survived by two daughters, Heath Drury Boote and her husband Alfred S. Boote of Woodstock, CT; Daryl Drury Feinfeld and her husband Dr. Donald Feinfeld of Eastchester, NY; and a son, Dr. John Drury of Melbourne, Australia; a sister, Marian Heath Mundy-Hooper of Mendham, NJ, one grandson, Michael Feinfeld, and eight nieces and nephews. A brother, Edwin Clifford Heath of Allentown, PA, predeceased her.

Services will be private, followed by burial in Rhinebeck, NY. Memorial gifts may be made to Matulaitis Nursing Home, 10 Thurber Road, Putnam, CT 06260.