Pacific School of Religion announces the passing of Rev. Barbara B. Troxell, PSR Dean Emerita of Students.
The Rev. Barbara B. Troxell died of cancer on October 17, 2025, shortly after her 90th birthday, at her home in Pilgrim Place, Claremont, California. Those who knew her – especially younger women clergy – remember a pioneering spiritual guide and source of encouragement and faith who lived as a devoted follower of Jesus.
She served her beloved United Methodist Church in many roles: as parish pastor, campus minister, district superintendent, conference program staffer, seminary professor, public spokesperson for justice, appointed member of national commissions and boards, ecumenical representative, and as a supportive and trusted counselor and confidant to those in leadership.
Barbara was born in Brooklyn to parents who were educators; her father was also a church organist. She was raised at home and at Kings Highway Methodist Church, shaped by music, education, and strong faith – profound influences that sustained her throughout her long and exceptional life. She sang in the choir, played basketball in the church league, held leadership roles in the Methodist Youth Fellowship, and felt a call to ministry from an early age – before she knew that women could be ordained.
Barbara was stretched intellectually and spiritually at Swarthmore College, preaching in rural churches while earning her degree in English Literature with a minor in Religion. She graduated from Union Theological Seminary in New York in 1959 with an M.Div., focusing on New Testament studies and pastoral psychology. A postgraduate year followed at New College, University of Edinburgh, with retreats at the Iona Community and direct exposure to the complexities of life in Palestine and Israel.
Returning home, Barbara was ordained—the first woman to receive full Conference membership in her New York Conference—and appointed to a pastorate as the first ordained woman that congregation had ever seen. She later served college communities for seven years through the YWCA movement at Ohio Wesleyan and then at Stanford, working ecumenically for civil rights, women’s equality, and peace. She became the first Protestant and first clergy member of the International Grail, a pioneering women’s movement for Catholic feminist theology and faith-based social action.
From 1971, Barbara served for five years on the pastoral team of Palo Alto Presbyterian Church (while remaining United Methodist) during a particularly vibrant period in that congregation’s life. She then became Dean of Students at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. During these years she studied Jungian analysis with the Guild for Psychological Studies and later continued her formation with the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation.
In 1974, her bishop called her back into direct United Methodist assignments, staffing the California-Nevada Conference for four years. In 1978, Barbara was appointed District Superintendent of the Golden Gate District—a culturally diverse region spanning north and south of San Francisco—where she exercised her pastoral and ecumenical gifts. More than one Jurisdictional Conference urged her to accept nomination as bishop, but she declined, choosing instead to deepen her ministry through friendship, collegiality, and leadership from within.
Barbara later married Hugh, a former Roman Catholic priest, and they moved to Chicago. There she became Director of Field Education and Spiritual Formation at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Over the next 12 years she focused on mentoring women to claim their authority as pastors, priests, prophets, and spiritual directors, while also teaching United Methodist history and practice.
Her birth family was small—neither of her parents had siblings, and Barbara had one sister, Sally Criticos. Though she had no children of her own, Sally’s daughters, Amy and Sarah, and their families were deeply dear to her. In another sense, Barbara’s “family” was vast, encompassing her students, colleagues, parishioners, and ecumenical partners. That circle grew even larger when, in 2002, she retired—again single—to Pilgrim Place. There she became known as the one who shows up, lends a hand, listens, and cares deeply. She served the community on the board and as moderator, frequently presiding at memorials and services, and offering confidential spiritual direction to many, including several women pastors.
Barbara was an active participant in the life of Claremont United Methodist Church. Deeply devoted to worship, she was also a member of the Order of Saint Luke, a Methodist-founded ecumenical community devoted to sacramental and liturgical scholarship and practice. She co-established and for a decade led the Napier Initiative, mentoring and funding dozens of recent college graduates developing projects in peace, justice, and care for the earth.
Her family grew again in 2006 when she married a fellow Pilgrim Place resident, UCC minister Gene Boutilier, expanding her family to include his large and welcoming circle of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Just months before her death, Barbara published a memoir, My Life Journey: Both Upwards and Downwards, its title drawn from Carl Jung’s insight: “No noble, well-grown tree ever disowned its dark roots, for it grows not only upwards, but downwards as well.”
A Eucharistic witness to Christian love and faith, and a celebration of Barbara Troxell’s life, is planned for Saturday, December 6, at 3 p.m. in the auditorium of Pilgrim Place. The service will be livestreamed, with a Zoom link posted at www.Troxell-Boutilier.org.
Photo Source: Church Anew