Fiery trailblazer was steadfast in her commitment to helping improve the lives of all people Barbara Catherine Nolfi, a fiery champion of women’s rights and justice for all, died peacefully in the presence of her beloved partner, Don, on the beautiful, warm fall day of September 29, 2024. Barbara’s life was an extraordinary journey of service, vision, implementation and realization that led to a better life for many Vermonters. As an inspired trailblazer, she was a founder of Earthworks Commune in Franklin, Vt., as well as key Burlington institutions: the Onion River Food Co-op, the People's Free Clinic (now the Community Health Centers), the Burlington Women's Health Center and Burlington Cohousing East Village, as well as the Charlotte Family Health Center. She served as a Progressive Burlington city counselor for eight years and Burlington Parks and Recreation commissioner for 12. The main stories of Barbara’s adult life are of solidarity with women and children and of valuing collective living, even in the face of its numerous (and often humorous) challenges. Barbara was born in Bryan, Texas, on July 28, 1942, the second child of Fredrick Macintosh Smith and Catherine Klein. She was proud of being an enrolled member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation through her father’s family. She grew up in rural Oklahoma and in Southern California, studying for two years at Pomona College, then finishing her BA at the University of California, Berkeley, where she met Jim Nolfi. In 1968, in Salmon Creek, Calif., Barbara gave birth to their son, Dylan. Barbara and Jim moved to Vermont in 1969 — the year of Woodstock — where Jim had a teaching job for the University of Vermont's zoology department. The following year, Barbara entered a major period of personal growth and radicalization when she and Jim moved to the Earthworks Commune. At the commune, Barbara realized the value of living together and sharing resources. She described this period of her life as being “freed up from the loneliness of being a young mom by living with other women and children.” “Smashing monogamy” was part of the ’60s culture, and Barbara and Jim’s marriage did not survive. At the same time, Barbara became an organizer of Free Vermont, a collective of “Communards" who brainstormed ideas for improving the lives of Vermonters. Their top priorities were creating food co-ops and health care for all. In 1971, she became a founder and ultimately a staff member of the People's Free Clinic. With the help of sympathetic doctors,…