Dr. Barbara "Bobbie" Amaral, 86, of Concord, and formerly of Boscawen, died Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009, at the Harris Hill Center in Concord.

Bobbie was born Feb. 11, 1923, the only daughter of Maurice and Helen (Bower) Watson of Gilford. She married William J. Amaral of Oak Bluffs, Mass., Oct. 10, 1943. As a child of the Great Depression, she became an innovative homemaker and a wonderfully creative cook.

Her husband was a career Army officer, resulting in multiple family separations and geographic dislocations in the postwar period and during the Korean War. Still, she somehow managed the needs of three young boys while completing her college coursework at several schools. She began medical school at the University of Vermont before transferring to the University of Kansas. Graduating in 1959, she served her internship at St. Francis Catholic Hospital in Wichita, Kan. The family was then transferred to Berlin, Germany, and was present when the "Wall" went up in August 1960. After spending two more years in Munich, Germany, the Amarals returned to Texas, and she was able to complete her medical residency at Scott and White in Temple, Texas, in 1971.

She immediately joined the Department of Hematology/Oncology as the first female staff clinic physician at Scott and White Memorial Hospital. As a teacher of resident physicians, she shared her love of medicine and very special gift of compassionately caring for patients and families whose loved ones were often suffering through terminal illness. Confident, poised and self-assured, she was never known to be caught off balance or to lack the perfect comforting word, whether dealing with a complicated patient or their anxious family or in any personal or social interaction. She retired in 1989 and with her husband returned to live in Boscawen in 1990.

In retirement, she was a docent at Currier Museum of Art in Manchester. She also performed as "Mr. Morin," the mill owner, for student tours of the Historic Belknap Mill in Laconia. Bobbie was an enthusiastic sportswoman excelling in swimming, skiing, field hockey and basketball. Her hobbies included world travel, artistic pursuits, cooking and reading. While a great people person, she dearly loved her pets.

Bobbie was the loving wife of the late Col. William J. Amaral.

She is survived by two brothers, Robert Watson of Gilford and Daniel Watson of Moultonboro, and three sons, William W. Amaral and his wife, Paula Chandoha, of Cambridge, Mass., Michael G. Amaral and his wife, Teresa Ferrara, of Gilmanton, and Peter G. Amaral and his wife, Nancy, of Brenham, Texas. She is remembered by her grandchildren, Maurice, son of William, and the children of Peter and Nancy: Becky, Chelle and Ansel. Lastly, Bobbie leaves behind numerous friends, co-workers, grateful patients and her "sister-friend," Andy Evetts.

A calling hour will be held Tuesday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. in the Carriage House of the Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home, 164 Pleasant St., Laconia.

After the calling hour, a Mass of Christian burial will be held at 11 a.m. at St. Joseph Church, 30 Church St., Laconia.

Burial will follow in the family lot at Pine Grove Cemetery, Gilford.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association, One Bedford Farms Drive, Suite 105, Bedford 03110, or to the New Hampshire Humane Society, P.O. Box 572, Laconia 03247.

Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home and Cremation Service, Laconia, is in charge of the arrangements.

For more information and to view an online memorial, log on to wilkinsonbeane.com.