Barbara “Barbie” Turrell Jasper

DOVER, N.H. – Barbara “Barbie” Turrell Jasper, a resident of the St. Ann Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, in Dover, N.H., died Sunday morning, December 8, at Wentworth Douglass Hospital, following a massive stroke the prior Wednesday. She is survived by a daughter, Anna, of Somersworth, N.H., and a son, Jeremy, and daughter-in-law, Karin, of Exeter. She was predeceased by her daughter, Penelope Jasper in 1966 and her son, Jonathan Jasper in 2009. Barbie was born in Malden, Massachusetts, on Aug. 16, 1926. During World War II, Barbie’s father returned to England to be with his children, and they survived the nightly bombing of Birmingham, spending most nights in a bomb shelter. At the end of the war, she joined her father – now a naturalized American citizen – when he returned to the United States. She hoped to get into American theatre. She eventually landed a job with a small summer stock company in Quincy, Massachusetts, where she met Alan Jasper, of Milford, New Hampshire. They were married for 44 years, living in Wheeling, West Virginia, New York City, and Lansing, Michigan. In the early days, Alan worked as a radio announcer and would often take Barbie with him when he recorded jazz concerts at various nightclubs live. They went out dancing many nights and did a mean foxtrot. Eventually they settled in Southern New Hampshire and Maine and had four children, Anna, Penelope, Jeremy and Jonathan. Beginning in her 40s Barbie began following a vigorous fitness regime – including aerobics at least three times a week, free weight training, and exercise at home. She was an early advocate of exercise as a way to control her weight and enhance her life. After parting ways with Alan at 63, she lived on her own in Kennebunkport, supporting herself with small jobs and gaining a reputation as an incredibly fit senior, often making friends among the younger women in her fitness classes, who were inspired by her agility, discipline and conviction that exercise provided the path to good self-esteem. At 86, she was still doing 10 full-length push-ups and 50 sit-ups a day, and her fitness enabled her to move easily and freely throughout her life. Visiting hours will be held from 6-8 p.m., on Monday evening, Dec. 16, 2019, in the Remick & Gendron Funeral Home-Crematory, 811 Lafayette Road, Hampton, N.H. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, December 21, at 12 p.m., noon, at the First Congregational Church, 141 North St., Kennebunkport, Maine. Refreshments will be served directly after the ceremony. Please visit www.RemickGendron.com to view Barbara’s memorial website, to sign her tribute wall and for additional information.

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