Barbara B. (Bruning) McGhie

North Branford - Barbara Bruning McGhie, 89, of North Branford, beloved wife for 53 years of Bruce Platt McGhie, died peacefully at her home Monday, September 27, 2021.

Barbara was born in Mineola, NY, June 29, 1932, the daughter of the late Theodore E. Bruning and Marjorie (Duffus) Bruning. She was raised in White Plains and lived in New York City and East Haddam, CT for many years. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1954.

Barbara was a superb golfer. She launched her golfing career in 1948 as the Westchester Hills Ladies’ Club Champion (at age 16).  In 1949 she was the Women’s Metropolitan Golf Association’s Junior Girls’ Champion, and the Runner-up in the inaugural USGA Junior Girls’ Championship. 
 

Her Wellesley college triumphs began while she was a freshman in 1951, when she secured the Women’s National Intercollegiate Golf crown. Two weeks later, she won the New York Women’s Tri-County Golf competition, and, later that year, the New York State Women’s Golf Championship. She went on to capture the 1952 and 1954 New York Women’s Golf Championship champion titles, and later earned a trip to the quarterfinals of the National Women’s Amateur Golf Championship.  Barbara continued to excel as a champion golfer for many years afterwards. She was inducted into the inaugural class of the Wellesley College Athletic Hall of Fame on October 18, 2014.
 

In addition to raising a family and tending the home, Barbara ran the volunteer program at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City (now Mount Sinai West Hospital) for many years. This met her desire to serve others and her lifelong interest in the medical sciences.  She was an accomplished student of the pipe organ. Barbara was a woman of deep faith, and enjoyed serving as a lay scripture reader at her episcopal churches for many decades.

Barbara is survived by a daughter and son, Anne Cheney McGhie of Cutler, ME, and John Ross McGhie of Concord, NH; three grandchildren, Nile Cheney McGhie, Ian Stuart McGhie, and Connor Bruce McGhie; a brother, Theodore E. Bruning, and two nephews and one niece.

A memorial service will be held at 10 AM Tuesday Oct.12, 2021 at Trinity on the Green Episcopal Church, 230 Temple Street, New Haven, CT.  For those unable to attend in person the service will be live-streamed. Please go to Trinity’s website, https://www.trinitynewhaven.org/ for the link. Burial will be private in the Cheney Cemetery in Manchester.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to High Hopes Therapeutic Riding, Inc., (memo B. McGhie), 36 Town Woods Road, Old Lyme, CT 06371.  You may also donate in her memory via their website: https://highhopestr.org/ 

The Holmes-Watkins Funeral Home in Manchester has care of arrangements, to leave a memory or message of condolence, please visit www.holmeswatkins.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Barbara B. (Bruning) McGhie, please visit our floral store.