Dr. Barbara Elaine Gaddy passed away peacefully in Lexington, Kentucky on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. Dr. Gaddy was a long-time, respected professor at Transylvania University, where she taught French and Spanish from 1967 to 1995 and impacted many students’ lives.
Barbara Gaddy was born in Concho County, Texas on November 4, 1928 to Herschell and Virginia Gaddy and spent her childhood in central Texas. She achieved both her B.A. and M.A. from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas while working for the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Company. In the spring of 1959, she was honored as the recipient of a Fulbright Grant to study at the University of Lille and the University of Paris (Sorbonne). Upon her return to the United States, she received her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Though she was based in Lexington for most of her adult life, she never lost her desire to travel and visited many countries in her lifetime.
Dr. Gaddy is survived by her brother, Ronny Gaddy (Retta), of Georgetown, Texas, and a host of nieces and nephews. A graveside service will be held in Richland Springs, Texas on Friday, July 16, at 10 a.m. A showing of some of Dr. Gaddy’s works and pictures on Transylvania’s campus in Lexington is being planned for early fall.