Her Story: Barbara (Henderson) Korn

Barbara (Henderson) Korn was born on Sept. 16, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois. She was adopted by her maternal grandparents and grew up in Sioux City, Iowa. Barbara received a degree in journalism from the Iowa University and was employed in the advertising department of Julius Garfinkel’s, Inc. in Washington D.C. in 1948. She received her master’s degree in Library Science from Columbia University in 1966. From that point on she was devoted to books and reading and became a lifelong librarian.

She married Gerald (Jerry) Korn in 1948 and they purchased the historic “town farm” in South Parsonsfield in 1966. Barbara became very involved in her community as a volunteer in the Head Start program, York County Born to Read program, and the Limerick Public Library. She was instrumental in reopening the North Parsonsfield Public Library in 1982 and was overseer and voluntary librarian.

Barbara was also well known in Maine historical circles and fought successfully to preserve Parsonsfield’s Old Town House and have it placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Barbara and her husband had three daughters, Ellen, Margaret and Susan. She died November 1, 2008 at the age of 82 after a life of service to her community.