Barabra Cleveland

Barbara Chandler Cleveland, of Washington, D.C., died on October 24, 2026 at the age of 82 from lung cancer.

Barbara was born November 1, 1943, the youngest child of Robert and Margaret (Bergner) Cleveland, in New York, NY, and raised in Upper Ridgewood New Jersey. After graduating from Ridgewood High School in 1961, she headed off to Smith College intending to become a scientist. Instead, inspired by the Vietnam War protests, and the Civil Rights movement, she chose to study government. In 1965, she received a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Smith College and moved to Washington D.C. to join the War on Poverty as a civil servant.

During her life and career, she championed economic justice, civil rights, and civic engagement. One of the focuses of her professional life was child support enforcement. She worked on this issue at the Office of Child Support Enforcement and later at the Partners for Fragile Families at the National Center for Strategic Nonprofit Planning and Community Leadership. Her career concluded at The Ford Foundation.

She met her future husband, Francis T. “Chris” Christy while both were at the Anchorage airport on their way home to Washington D.C. from business trips. A romance ensued with the smart, handsome man who shared her love of fishing. When Chris moved to Rome, Italy in 1980 to work as a fisheries management expert and economist for the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization, Barbara joined him. Their nine years in Rome, filled with worldwide travel, were a highlight of her life. The two married in a civil ceremony in Rome in 1984.

In 1989, when Chris retired, they repatriated and returned to Washington DC. They moved into The Ontario, a Beaux Arts styled cooperative in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. Barbara was an active resident serving on the cooperative board for many years.

Barbara was an avid angler, having learned the sport from her older brother, Bob, as a child. She and her husband owned a fishing cabin in East New Market, MD, made regular fly fishing trips to Croatia’s Gacka River to fish its famous trout, and later fished for bonefish in the Bahamas. She was also a skilled knitter, who enjoyed sharing teaching the craft to others. She collected frog memorabilia and quirky socks.

Barbara’s connection to her alma mater, Smith College, remained strong throughout the years. It was strengthened when her niece joined her as an alumna. She regularly got

together with former classmates, attended class reunions, and participated in Smith College travel trips, sometimes with her cousin and fellow alumna Judith Robbins King. A 2019 trip on understanding the Civil Rights Movement rekindled her dedication to ending white supremacy and seeking others to continue the march forward together. As her legacy, she established The Barbara Cleveland ‘65 Scholarship Fund at Smith College.

She is preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Robert Cleveland, and her husband of 25 years, Francis “Chris” Christy. She is survived by her sister, Joan Boxell of Santa Rosa, CA, niece, Kelsey Cleveland and grand nephew, Reed Bosshardt of Hillsboro, OR. Additional survivors include Susannah Christy, Catherine Christy and Sam Christy, her husband’s children from his previous marriage.

A celebration of life will be held at The Ontario, 2853 Ontario Road NW, Washington D.C. 20009 in the community room on Sunday, 11/1 at 3 pm with a reception to follow