Gail M. Barton, MD, MPH passed away peacefully at her home on December 27th, 2020, with her daughter by her side, following a six-month battle with metastatic gastric cancer. She was born April 20, 1937, in Massachusetts, to Elsa and Walter Barton, MD.  Her family frequently moved around the East Coast, finally settling again in Massachusetts.  Some of her formative years were spent on the grounds of the Worcester State Hospital where her father was the Medical Superintendent and her mother was the head of nursing.  It was there that she would accompany her father on rounds each weekend.   It was quite the walk to school during that time, passing seven cemeteries, a boy's detention center, a zoo, a rat-infested dump, and of course the grounds of the State Hospital that housed 3,000 patients.  She later bussed to Thayer Academy in Braintree for high school, where she acquired a love for tennis, field hockey, skiing, and the fine arts.

Dr. Barton graduated from Tufts University with a major in Fine Arts and a minor in Sociology and also attended a program at the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts to further solidify her interest in the arts. While working at the Fernald State School for the Mentally Retarded, she was on the cutting edge of human chromosome research, taking notes on autopsies, and capturing micro-photographs of chromosomes, so she could later cut them out and pair them up to determine whether odd shapes or sizes were present.   She went on to obtain her MD at the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania, now known as Drexel. With her internship at St Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI and Residency in Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical Center, where she served as Chief Resident, she began her focus on Emergency Psychiatry. She was one of the first female interns and psychiatry residents and she was a strong advocate for equality between men and women in all aspects of training and education. It was in Ann Arbor that she met and married Duncan Kretovich, they would later divorce.  She continued her education with a Masters of Public Health at the School of Public Health at University of Michigan, with an emphasis in Community Mental Health.  Dr. Barton was a board-certified Forensic Examiner, Neurology and Psychiatry, and Medical Examiner. She held several academic appointments including Associate Professor of Psychiatry (with Tenure) at the University of Michigan,  Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Clinical) at the University of Vermont Medical School, Professor of Psychiatry at Dartmouth, and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Dartmouth.

Dr. Barton co-authored many articles and textbooks with esteemed colleagues including two textbooks in hospital administration and a time-management textbook entitled "Shrinking Time" co-written with her father, Walter E. Barton, MD, who was also a distinguished Psychiatrist.  Dr. Gail Barton was an outspoken advocate throughout her life for equality and freedom for all and used the platform of her numerous memberships in professional and honorary societies to advocate for equality. Among other leadership positions, she served as President of the Vermont Psychiatric Association, President of the American College of Mental Health Administration and even found a way to harken back to her artistic routes by serving as the President of the American Psychiatric Association Arts Association. She worked tirelessly on behalf of her patients to educate them and their families on how to best manage their illness and work towards long-term success.

After relocating to the Upper Valley, she joined the White River Junction Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where she used her background of education in the arts to pioneer an art therapy program within the Department of Psychiatry that introduced art therapy students onto an inpatient psychiatric unit.  There she again championed women's resources and equality within a male dominated organization. She also introduced pet therapy to the inpatient psychiatric unit, later broadening the scope to other inpatient units. She delighted in the reaction of patients when her happy-go-lucky golden retriever, Scrappers, complete with her own name badge and nose-print, entered a room with tail wagging and gentle nudges to patients in need of cheer.

Her involvement in many professional organizations gave her a platform to share her viewpoints on emergency psychiatry, disaster preparedness, civil and women's rights, and equality. She was never one to let her voice go unheard.  She was a fiercely strong and independent individual and very proud of her career accomplishments.  She enjoyed helping her many patients with their mental health struggles and found creative ways to engage on an individual basis. She forged patient-doctor relationships so strong that some patients followed her from her time at the VA into private practice.  Dr. Barton was extremely proud of her advancements in training, planning, and teaching emergency psychiatry as well as her contributions to the community response in these situations.  She believed in a multi-faceted approach, from training first responders to appropriately assess and handle mental health situations to chairing a task force for the APA on Emergency Care to ensure that psychiatric patients would receive appropriate treatment early on.

Throughout her life, Dr. Barton enjoyed the outdoors, finding pleasure in various activities such as canoe trips, hiking, skiing, and backpacking.  She incorporated these activities in many business trips around the country and Europe, including a favorite ski trip to Austria.  Following her partial retirement, she rekindled her love for the fine arts and began spending more time creating works of art as she traveled around the region to experiment with various forms of media. She could be found rooted in tall grass with her easel as she painted the New England landscape or snapping a photo of her family while they celebrated. She shared these pieces with friends, family, and the community through art galleries. She spent her Thursdays with her art group, Odanaksis (Little Village Artist) as they traveled around the region doing plein air.

Dr. Barton was an active member of the community, a member of Windsor Rotary, the Historic Preservation committee and many more. She would host garden tours and a Victorian Tea on her front porch during Windsor Heritage days. She created lovely shade gardens around her home and was able to maintain them for many years on her own only requiring assistance in recent years.

She is survived by a sister in-law, Betty Barton (John Barton), her brother, Paul Barton, her daughter, Mariah and son in-law, Steve Connolly, granddaughters Kayla and Ellynor Connolly, and great grandson, Abel Connolly, as well as several nieces and nephews from across the country. She leaves behind many friends and family throughout the local community and around the country. A Memorial Service will be held at a later date to be announced. Memorial Contributions may be made to the charity of your choice, support the arts, the environment, wildlife, or the humanities.