Barbara S. Dewey Dies; Charity Group Director

A memorial service will be held Friday for Barbara Stokes Dewey, secretary and executive director of the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, a charitable institution that has provided millions of academic dollars in the engineering and science fields.

She was 72 when she died Wednesday in an Inglewood hospital of leukemia complications.

Mrs. Dewey was the longtime administrative manager for Parsons, head of an internationally known engineering and construction firm. On her retirement in 1977 she assumed a directorship with his foundation and helped guide it through its early years. The foundation now has assets exceeding $130 million and provides scholarships, technology funding and money for a variety of projects, generally in the Los Angeles area.

Mrs. Dewey, survived by her son, Robert Stokes, a daughter, Carol Estrada, three grandchildren and a sister, Betty Hankins, also was a director of the Southern California Assn. for Philanthropy.

Her memorial will be at 11 a.m. at Herrick Chapel at Occidental College. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to a favorite charity or the Southern California Assn. for Philanthropy, 849 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, 90014.