Barbara Barackman DeBolt graduated from the U of I in 1964 with a BA in French. She resided in the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority house all four years.
After graduation she returned home to Chicago Heights and married soon after. Barbara taught French at Tinley Park High School, then had two babies, and returned to teaching French at the junior high level for seven more years. During four of those years she planned and escorted four-day tours to the Concordia College French Language Village in Minnesota. “We all loved that experience each year,” she said, noting that each year they had about 25 to 30 students.
She then “retired” and became a travel agent in “about 1985. I specialized in all of Europe and of course France. I have visited almost all of each European country except those in Scandinavia.
“I then planned a yearly Europe tour for women for about 20 years. I have almost retired from doing travel, but still have the itch to travel!”
She adds that music is “just as important for me as travel.” She’s been an opera lover since her high school years in the 1950s. “For years I’ve attended the wonderful performances at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.”
Barbara now lives in Flossmore, Ill., and attends Chicago Symphony Orchestra performances intermittently. She’s also a board member of the South Suburban Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, which, she said, in the past ten years has become one of the top orchestras in Northern Illinois. And, she is in the PEO sisterhood, plays bridge, and is a Presbyterian church member.
Quote: “Many thanks to the wonderful U of I for a great education, and lifelong learning experiences.”