MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Brandywine members Dr. Barbara Stewart, VMD and Dr. Richard “Dick” Brown, VMD, are retired veterinarians who currently live in Cochranville, PA. Barbara, who grew up on the Main Line, met Dick at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, where they were both students. After school, they moved to Cochranville where they purchased an old farmhouse on a 20-acre property—which they affectionately named Toilsome Lane Farm, after the road Barbara’s grandmother lived on. It was there that they raised three children, along with many dogs and horses, while both working as practicing veterinarians.

Barbara has held a lifelong interest in equestrianism—she grew up riding at the Gladwyne Pony Club and fox hunting with the Cheshire Hunt. Although Dick didn’t start riding horses until adulthood, they both hold a deep appreciation for the connection between open space preservation and equestrian pursuits.

Inspired by the philanthropic spirit of her father, Barbara and Dick have committed themselves to supporting local education and environmental causes. They both are active in their township, where Dick has served as a supervisor for 18 years and Barbara sits on the Zoning Hearing Board—describing herself as the “one-woman parks and rec department.”

With their leadership, Londonderry Township has made great strides in preserving and improving open spaces in their community. Notably, they were instrumental in getting a referendum passed in 2003 that collects a 0.25% Earned Income Tax which funds open space initiatives within the township. The same year the referendum passed, Barbara and Dick donated an easement on their 20-acre property to the Brandywine Conservancy.

“What makes the Brandywine unique is the connection between art and nature,” Barbara says. While they are passionate about open space preservation, it was a 1986 trip to Russia—organized by the Museum—that first got Dick and Barbara involved with the Brandywine. Barbara, who was an undergraduate art history major before pivoting to veterinary medicine, recalls “literally running to the Museum with her checkbook” when they found out they would have an opportunity to participate in the trip, which was organized on the occasion of Brandywine’s blockbuster exhibition, An American Vision: Three Generations of Wyeth Art, touring the Soviet Union.

Barbara and Dick have both retired from veterinary practice, but their commitment to their community keeps them busy. “Giving back is better than taking,” Dick says. n

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