Barbara Abernethy

Notes:

Boston Herald, Obit:
Sunday February 19th 2012.
Barbara (Abernethy) Eachus of Cambridge, a retired personal assistant to the British Consul-general. died Tuesday at her home after a long illness, She was 91.
Born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland/ Mrs Eachus was convent schooled in Belgium, where she learnes French , German and Flemish. She Was recruted by the British Foreigh office at the age of 16 and was immediately transferred to the Government Code & Cypher School. In August 1939, she was sent to Bletchley Park, which wouild become the classified Enigma-code-breaking facility. Starting out in decoding, she moved on to administration, where she became the personal assistant to the deputy director of GCCS. She was the person who locked that facilty's door for the last time in 1946.
Winston Churchill praised the organization for cracking the code in which the Germans relayed their military messages during world war II.
Mrs Eachus moved to the United States in 1947 and joined the British Joint Services Mission in Washington D.C. untill 1956 when she joined the british Consulate-General Boston office as an information officer and personal assistant to the consul-general. She later was designated to vice consul before retiring in 1986. In 1971, Mrs Eachus was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II as a member of the Order of the British Empire, in 1976 she was instrumental in coordinating the visit of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip to Boston, which was the first visit to the city by a reigning monarch.
After retiring Mrs Eachus and her Husband started the Marshall Scholarship Alumni Association, now the association of Marshall Scholars.
Wife of the late Joseph J Eachus, Mrs Eachus is survived by two stepsons, Dr Alan Eachus of Chicargo and Dr James Eachus of Seattle. A celebration of her life will be held at a later date. Burial will be private, arrangements are by Brown & Hickey Funeral Home, Belmont. Contributions in memory of Barabara Eachus may be made to the Bletchly Park Trust, The Mansion, Sherwood Driev, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, MK3 6EB

Barbara married Joseph Jackson Eachus in 1947 in Washington D.C.. Joseph (son of Lewis Gillott Eachus and Rettie Irene Rogers) was born on 5 Nov 1911 in Oxford, Ohio, America; died on 9 Dec 2003 in America. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]