BARBARA (NEWTON) MENZIES, age 81, of Hingham, died on Wednesday, Jan. 7th at her home after a long illness. She was born in Hartford, CT and from her earliest years it was obvious that her over-riding interest was in art. She graduated from Derby Academy in Hingham where she readily admitted "I spent most of my time in the art department." From Derby she went on to St. Mary's in the Mountains in Littleton, NH(now called the White Mountain School) where art continued to dominate her studies.From there she went to the Vesper George School of Art in Boston where she won a scholarship to study at the nationally known Provincetown School of Art under the prominent oil painter, Henry Hensche. Mrs. Menzies became a noted South Shore artist but few South Shoreites knew the extent or breadth of her work which included water colors of the Scottish highlands and its castles - the more ruined and fiercely romantic looking the better. Then again, there were her historically restful water colors of Beacon Hill's red brick colonialism and narrow window-boxed streets as well as landscapes and seascapes in towns from Boston to Provincetown. But it was on Hingham that she centered her lifelong artistic talents. Her water colors and pen and inks hang in many old Hingham homes, and new ones; paintings and sketches of the Old Ship Church, Hornstra's Barn, The Old Ordinary, The Cushing Homestead, Rainbow Roof House, Derby Academy and Old Derby Academy, without forgetting the Buttonwood Tree at Hingham Center. In the 1950's and 60's her pen and ink work found its way into new homes rising in new Hingham neighborhoods, such as Liberty Pole,when Realtor Gregg Hall and his wife, Fran, thought up the idea of giving first time owners pen and inks of their homes as a gift. Barbara Menzies' roots were in Hingham and the South Shore and beyond that, as a direct Mayflowers descendant. Her grandfather, William L. Foster was for 40 continuous years a selectman in Hingham, the last 29 as chairman, a record, in that capacity, unsurpassed in New England. Her grandmother was Mrs. Nellie (Briggs) Foster, wife of William Foster. Their daughter, Katherine (Foster) Newton Harrington was Barbara's mother. Her father, Fay Newton of New York State, a decorated World War I veteran, died in a fire in 1924 when Barbara was not yet two years old. From the Briggs side of the family Barbara inherited six plus acres of land in Norwell which she gifted only last month to the town of Norwell for use by the Norwell School Department with the only condition that it must remain in its natural state... The land abuts Norwell High School. That she would place such a condition was no surprise as she served for eight years on the Hingham Conservation Commision from 1974 to 1982 and was a knowledgeable and enthusiastic gardner and birder. In 1998 her pen and inks were featured in the Hingham Historical Society's Cookbook - "Out of the Ordinary" - which won first place in the national community cookbook awards. In addition to her services to the town, she was a founding member of the South Shore Association for Retarded Citizens and a board member for many years. One could do no better than repeat the comment of her longtime physician, Dr. David Krieger; " She was a lovely lady." Despite her art work and the considerable time she gave to the town, including drawings for town reports, she, with her husband Ian S. Menzies, a former managing editor and columnist for the Boston Globe, brought up 4 daughters; Marla Ann Menzies of Harwich, Gillian Menzies Cohan, Alexa Stuart Menzies and Deborah Newton Menzies all of Hingham. She is also survived by 2 granddaughters; Skye and Caitlin Cohan both of Hingham. A Memorial Service will be conducted on Saturday, Jan. 17th at 11 AM at the Old Ship Church, 90 Main St., Hingham. Visiting hours and flowers omitted by request. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to Hospice of the South Shore, P.O. Box 859060, Braintree, MA 02185-9060 or to South Shore ARC, 371 River St., No. Weymouth, MA 02191. The interment is to be private. Arrangements by the Downing Cottage Funeral Chapel, Hingham.