Lasting Memories

Barbara Jean Shenk
1943-Feb. 1, 2009
Seattle, Washington

Barbara Jean Shenk, who grew up in Menlo Park, died Feb.1 in Seattle, Washington, after a six-year battle with breast cancer. She was 66.

Ms. Shenk was born in San Francisco and graduated from Castilleja in Palo Alto. After graduating from the University of Montana, she joined the Peace Corp and was sent to Columbia as an English teacher. She taught at a Kibbutz in Israel for two years in the late 1960s.

After receiving a master of arts degree from the University of Arizona, she moved to Puerto Rico for several years, where she established a first-time physical education program for high school girls.

An avid traveler, she backpacked through most of the Middle East, Europe and South America. She moved to Seattle in 1979, where she worked for the Seattle Parks & Recreation Department. She retired from the department in 2000.

Ms. Shenk was preceded in death by her parents, Jay and Virginia Shenk, who were residents of Menlo Park for more than 50 years. She is survived by her sister, Margaret Head of San Jose; niece Marcia Cheney of Portola Valley; nephew Ryan Cheney of San Jose; and grand-niece Emma Virginia Cicchetti of Portola Valley.