By Vanessa Westlake
Local Wakefield seniors and Wakefield Memorial High School seniors came
together for lunch, conversation, and interviews as part of a cross-generational
program titled Seniors to Seniors. The resulting articles written by students using
lived experiences from the adults as content are being published as a series.
Seniors to Seniors is a collaboration between The Savings Bank, The Room to
Write, Wakefield High School, Wakefield Senior Center, Wakefield Daily Item, and
JC Marketing Associates.
Barbara Worley might be a familiar face as you walk into WCAT, but there
is much more than meets the eye. Not only has Barbara been a lifelong member of
the Girl Scouts, she has dedicated her life to giving back to her community no
matter where her life takes her.
Originally from College Station, Texas, Worley lived in Texas for over 45
years. She has three older siblings: Eleanor, Fred, and Evalyn. Her father, Willard
Worley, was an A&M professor and her mother, Cathryn Worley, was a high
school Spanish teacher for over 31 years. During her childhood summers, Worley’s
family took trips to Mexico so her mother could teach English to Spanish speaking
educators at various high schools while Barbara tried to learn Spanish. At first,
Barbara planned to be an architect like her older brother and participated in
industrial arts in high school. She continued her love for industrial arts throughout
college but left her interest in becoming an architect. She received a BA in Art and
an MA in Elementary Education at Austin College located in Sherman, Texas.
Four years later, Barbara went back to school to receive an MBA at Texas A&M
University-Corpus Christi where she went on to teach computer literacy and
drafting at a catholic middle school.
While residing in Texas, Barbara Worley dedicated herself to community
service by volunteering at Meals On Wheels. During this time, she served as the
Adult Development Director for the Girl Scouts of the Lone Star Council which
helped her discover her enthusiasm for nonprofit management. She trained
volunteers and directed all adult programs which served over 14,000 girls and
9,000 adult members. In the winter of 2002, Worley would move to Worcester
Massachusetts to become the Director of Membership for the Girl Scouts of
Montachusetts Council. Through this position, she designed and managed
membership services for more than 10,000 girls and 4,000 adult members. After 7
years, she worked as a Day Camp Administrator of the Girl Scouts of Eastern
Massachusetts in Andover. She has held various positions due to her diverse
expertise, including roles such as the Marketing Liaison for Visiting Angels,
Transportation Director for the Brooks School Day Camp, and After School
Teacher at Odyssey Day School.
After being previously married, Barbara met her current husband, Robert
Vogtli, through an online dating service in 2006 and moved to Wakefield. They
married in 2010 at Wakefield Town Hall and had an intimate reception at the
town’s beloved Brother’s Deli. Robert is an electrical engineer at MITRE located
in Bedford, and her stepdaughter, Jasmine, is a junior at Suffolk University
studying international relations.
Barbara remains an active member of Wakefield through her contributions
as Treasurer of the Wakefield Rotary Club and Studio Administrator at Wakefield
Community Access Television (WCAT). The Rotary Club has been able to
monetarily support many Wakefield programs such as WAAV, TSF of Wakefield,
and Movies By The Lake. This past fall, Barbara matched the Rotary Club’s
donation to the Wakefield Memorial High School’s Amigos Program in memory of
her late mother. The club also allowed her to travel to the Rotary International
Convention in Toronto when she served as the President in 2018-2019.
Barbara has served as the brains behind Wakefield Community Access
Television since she joined in 2015. Tom Stapleton, the WCAT Executive Director
and member of the Wakefield Rotary Club, originally encouraged Barbara to join
WCAT in 2015. She is in charge of scheduling the majority of content on WCAT’s
public and government television channels. Barbara also handles Board support,
membership, special events, and she helps with social media. Barbara is a large
contributor to why we can enjoy Town Council meetings on Mondays and School
Committee on Tuesdays.
Barbara will be switching over to part time in the coming months to allow
more time for other endeavors such as native gardening, listening to 70’s music,
and fundraising for the 4th of July parade. Barbara likes to stay in the know about
the presidential election climate. She also stresses her commitment to reading
every issue of the Wakefield Daily Item. In addition, Barbara has always been
passionate about women’s rights, volunteerism, and the environment. After a long
day, Barbara likes to watch Steven Colbert, Family Feud, and Wakefield High
School sports games with Geri, her Miniature Maine Coon cat. This summer,
Barbara can be found volunteering at the 4th of July parade or at the Wakefield
farmers market.
Barbara looks forward to the positive future of Wakefield especially with the
addition of a new high school building. She is one of many Wakefield seniors that
make this town a special community to be a part of. When asked what advice she
would give to future generations during uncertain times in the world, Barbara had
the perfect message to end on “always do what you can to help others because
we’re all in this together.”
