Barbara Kavanagh

Barbara Claire Kavanagh, nee Beal, a resident of Sausalito, died May 13, 2025. Barbara’s grandparents survived the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco; she grew up in Burlingame, where she met Dennis Kavanagh and married him at age 19.

As a young married couple, Barbara and Dennis lived in student housing in Albany while Dennis earned his B.A. and J.D. at UC Berkeley. During this time, they had three sons: Christopher, Anthony, and Michael. The family resided in Sacramento for Dennis’s legislative internship, then spent several months in Mexico City. They settled in Mill Valley, and Dennis opened a law practice in San Francisco, with Barbara as office manager and paralegal. Her career spanned 25 years in Dennis’ practice and the office of their friend Bob Lamborn.

Barbara and Dennis traveled extensively with their sons, including driving across Europe to Morocco in 1966. Barbara was an accomplished skipper, and she and Dennis sailed together around Mallorca and the Virgin Islands, from St. Marten’s to St. Bart’s, and to Tonga and Bay of Islands, New Zealand. With friends, they sailed in the Greek islands, the Caribbean, and Tahiti and went canal boating in France. Barbara joined Dennis’s travels to Moscow, Paris, Hong Kong, and Havana with the Lapins Sauvages amateur softball team founded by Ed Moose, proprietor of the Washington Square Bar and Grill in San Francisco.

Barbara was a member for more than 40 years of the Sausalito Yacht Club, where she served on the board of directors. She won three first-place trophies in the Women’s Skipper Races. She also took overall first place in the Midwinter Series Races on her boat, which was named after her friend, the legendary sailor Spike Africa. She joined the crew on a 42-foot sailboat in the Pacific Cup race from San Francisco to Hawaii, completing the race despite a fire en route. Barbara was also a member of the Sausalito Women’s Club and an honorary member of the Sacramento Seminar.

Barbara and Dennis’s son Christopher died in 2015, and Dennis died in 2016. Barbara is survived by sons Anthony (Kristen) and Michael (Anne-Marie). Barbara also leaves two grand-daughters, Emily and Jessie (Robert), and great-grandson Dean, as well as sisters Kathleen Hilger and Kris Beal, nephew Kenneth Moodie (Ami), and great nephews Calvin Moodie and J.D. and Jacob Port.

Barbara will be deeply missed. Contact kavfamily2025@protonmail.com.