Dec 21, 1931 - Apr 02, 2025

• Barbara Screaton Fulford

Barbara Screaton Fulford, psychologist, philanthropist, and advocate for children’s welfare, passed away peacefully in her sleep at her home in Ottawa, Ontario, on April 2, 2025. She was 93 years old.

Born on December 21, 1931, in Toronto, Ontario, Barbara was the daughter of Gordon Sydney Screaton and Edith Amelia Hollander.  Barbara attended Bishop Strachan School in Toronto and later studied modern languages at the University of Toronto. There, she met Dwight Wilder Fulford during a university debate.  They married on June 30, 1954, remaining together until his death in 2009, 54 years later.

Early in their marriage they moved to England to attend the University of Oxford, where Barbara studied Social Work, while Dwight read Law and History until he was accepted into the Canadian Foreign Service in 1956.

Barbara’s life was shaped by Dwight’s diplomatic career, leading her and their growing family to postings in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1957–1960, and again 1977–1982); Havana, Cuba (1961–1964); Mexico City, Mexico (1964–1969); and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (1982–1986), but always returning to their home on Revelstoke Drive in Ottawa, increasingly filled with art and objects acquired in their time abroad. These postings exposed her to critical historical events, including the Cuban Missile Crisis and Argentina’s military dictatorship.  She was deeply affected by witnessing injustice and became more committed than ever to social causes, human rights, and child welfare.  She and Dwight shared this commitment, and it manifested throughout their lives in countless acts of hands-on generosity to individuals needing a helping hand.

Barbara dedicated her professional life to child psychology and welfare. In Ottawa, she was involved in the first Child Life programs at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in the early 1970s. During her second tenure in Argentina, Barbara completed her PhD in Psychology at the University of Belgrano, writing her thesis in Spanish.  While in Buenos Aires, she established Argentina’s first therapeutic playroom at the Hospital Italiano in Buenos Aires in 1979, introducing innovative child-focused psychological practices.

In 1998, Barbara founded Child Play International, an organization dedicated to improving children’s lives through play-based therapy and education. The charity has supported initiatives in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, and Nepal, creating playrooms and funding educational programs, reflecting Barbara’s belief that all children deserve a nurturing, playful environment.  Her interest in playrooms had roots in her own vivid, happy memories of the playroom in the home of one of her close childhood friends.  Her homes and office were havens for children, full of books, toys, and art supplies.

Barbara’s empathy and commitment extended to assisting refugees and asylum seekers in Canada. She provided compassionate support, helping many write coherent asylum narratives that often successfully secured their safety. She opened her home to those who sought refuge and assistance, evidence of her generous spirit and unwavering dedication to social justice.

Barbara was also an accomplished sculptor and ceramicist, admired for her intricate animal-shaped clay whistles and sculptures. She loved crafts of all kinds, and enjoyed working with local materials, sometimes taking her children and grandchildren on expeditions to collect clay and craft supplies from the nearby forest and riverbank, or experimenting with new flavours for chewing gum made from natural latex.  She admired manual skills as much as intellectual pursuits and drew no distinction between academic art and beautifully made crafts.

She is survived by her six children: Wilder, Martha, Benjamin, Daniel, Adam, and Sarah; her seven grandchildren and her four great-grandchildren.  She will be missed by a wide community of friends, colleagues, and people whose lives she touched, and especially by Marie Louise Uwamahoro, her close friend and carer who was by her side until the end.