Obituary of Barbara C. (Seeds) Carlson

Barbara C. (Seeds) Carlson, 77, wife of the late Robert Carlson, died unexpectedly and peacefully on Thursday January 30, 2014 at the North Shore Medical Center—Salem Hospital, in the presence of family and a friend, after an extended illness. Born in Medford, she was the daughter of the late Robert and Alice (Chojnowski) Seeds. She was raised in Saugus by her grandparents, Wicenty and Jozefa Chojnowski, because her mother died at an early age in her life. She attended St. Michael's School in Lynn before moving on to Saugus High School, graduating in 1954. She lived in Peabody for more than 50 years. Mrs. Carlson worked at the John Hancock Life Insurance Company in Boston for a number of years until taking time at home with her daughter. She returned to work at Herb Wood Machine Company in Peabody, which later became Foxwood Machine in Rowley, focusing on quality control and inspection. After retiring from the machine shop she also worked in customer service at Deerskin Trading Post. She had a lot of fun and really enjoyed her many years of part-time work at Roller Palace in Beverly. Barbara was a member of the Ground Observer Corps, a civil defense program of the US Air Force, where she was part of our nation's air warning system, trained to observe and report aircraft in the 1950s. She was a past member of the Cape Ann Sportsman's Club in Gloucester where she was involved in target shooting. She was known to enjoy playing piano, painting, and bowling, and she had been an avid player of video games. More recently she enjoyed fishing, golfing, and bird-watching. She was a big fan of hockey, football, and the Olympics. Barbara also very much enjoyed doing Japanese Bunka embroidery at the Torigian Community Life Center and going to the movies with friends. She is survived by a daughter, Sandra Muise & her husband Dave Muise of Saugus; three grandchildren, Stephanie Muise of Peabody, Daniel Muise of Saugus, and Nicholas Muise of Saugus; two sisters, Josephine Seeds of Malden and Lottie Whitaker of Woburn, and several nieces and nephews. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to gather on Saturday February 8, 2014 from 9:30 to 11:00 AM at the Conway, Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home, 82 Lynn St., Peabody, with a Funeral Service to follow at 11:00 AM. Burial will be in St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Lynn.