Barbara Bouldin, 78, generous hostess

THE BOULDIN HOME in Mount Airy was always open. Friends, relatives and even total strangers were welcomed and treated as honored guests.

Barbara James Williams Bouldin was the hostess with the mostest.

"She welcomed everybody into her home," said her daughter, Leslie Bouldin. "We didn't even have to be there when our friends showed up. Mom would sit down and talk with them. A couple of my girlfriends even lived with us for a time."

Generosity and love were the hallmarks of Barbara's approach to the world. "She was a very generous person," Leslie said. "She was always pleasant, no matter what was going on."

Barbara Bouldin, one-time telephone operator for the old Bell Telephone Co., an employee of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in the communications center, a ceramic artist and devoted traveler, died Tuesday after an extended illness. She was 78.

She was born in Rock Hill, S.C., to James and Nancy Viola Williams. The family came to Philadelphia when she was a child, and she was baptized at St. Paul's Baptist Church. She attended public school and graduated from Simon Gratz High School in 1952.

Back in the days when there was a need for telephone operators, Barbara was one of them. At that time, Bell didn't hire many African-Americans, but Barbara was a cherished worker.

She then went to the Naval Shipyard in communications, and retired in 1992 "to enjoy the fruits of her many years of labor," as her family put it.

She married Culvirt Bouldin in 1961, and together they cruised among the islands of the Caribbean on annual jaunts. They and a group of friends went every year. She and her husband and children also enjoyed spending vacations in Atlantic City.

Barbara was a talented artist and created ceramic pieces that are coveted by family and friends. She also was a skilled cook, turning out delicious fried chicken and macaroni-and-cheese dishes in the Southern style.

"She loved to bake," Leslie said. "She would bake wonderful apple pies and cookies."

Her own tastes included McDonald's french fries, frappés and cappuccino.

Another of Barbara's passions was shopping. She and Leslie would travel to Cherry Hill and spend an entire day at the shops.

Leslie and Barbara's two other children remember with fondness how their mother would take them to the Christmas light show at Wanamaker's every year, and the children's Christmas shop at Strawbridge's.

Barbara liked to kick back with a good mystery novel, including the works of James Patterson, or watch TV or movie mysteries and oldies.

She was a also big fan of English crooner Adele.

Besides her husband and daughter, she is survived by a son, Michael; another daughter, Daveda, and six grandchildren. She was predeceased by her only sibling, Gene Williams, who died in 2011.

Services: Memorial service noon Jan. 19 at Grace Baptist Church of Germantown, 25 W. Johnson St.