Funeral Details

Barbara Weisman, age 88, passed away peacefully on June 3, 2024. She is survived by her husband of 67 years, Norbert Weisman; her daughters, Randy Reid Doane (Joseph Abram) and Ellen Weisman Strenger; and her five grandchildren, Rachel and Jeffrey Reid, and Jennifer, Larry, and Sara Strenger.

Barbara was a woman with incredible energy and spirit and strong opinions who lived her life to the fullest until it was slowly stolen away by Alzheimer’s Disease. Before her illness, Barbara loved traveling the world, gardening, spending time with her many friends and family, especially her grandchildren, as well as volunteering for the Chicago Botanic Gardens and Lincoln Park Zoo.

Barbara grew up in Chicago with parents Pauline and David Henry and her brother Chuck, all of blessed memory. She was extremely intelligent and skipped many grades, graduating from Von Steuben high school in 1952. She went to work as a secretary and started taking some college classes. Within a few years she met and fell in love with Norbert, who she met at a dance in Chicago.

Barbara soon had two baby girls. She delighted in her young children and initially devoted herself to being the perfect homemaker, sewing beautiful clothes and cooking delicious meals for her family. Then, in the 1960s, her life was transformed by the feminist movement, which she fervently embraced. Determined to have a career of her own, she went back to school, sometimes with her children in tow, and earned her college degree in teaching in 1970. Barbara also raised her girls to be fiercely and fearlessly independent. Her daughters still remember dancing around the living room to Helen Reddy songs like “I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar,” which was played so often that they memorized the lyrics.

After becoming a teacher, Barbara began working at King Lab elementary school in Evanston, Illinois. She went on to pioneer the use of classroom computer technology in the Evanston schools and to serve as a negotiator for the teachers’ union. Along the way, she also became an avid tennis player, the leader of a highly successful investment club, a jewelry maker, and a passionate devotee of healthy eating way before it was “a thing.”

In retirement, Barbara delighted in her grandchildren, relishing all opportunities to babysit. She loved having them visit her while she served as a volunteer at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Her granddaughters also loved to play with Grandma’s bead collection, and Barbara showed the girls how to make necklaces and bracelets.

For the last 15 years of her life, Barbara was afflicted with Alzheimer’s Disease, which grew progressively worse over time. She and her husband moved from their longtime home in Skokie to an assisted living facility in Northbrook, and Norbert made caring for Barbara the center of his life. He insisted upon being Barbara’s primary caregiver until the couple reached their mid-80s, when the burden was simply too much for him. Subsequently, they were blessed with some wonderful caregivers.

After seeing Barbara slip away over the past 15 years from Alzheimer’s, her family is happy that she is now at peace and that they are finally be able to remember and celebrate the incredible human being that she was for most of her life. The legacy she left behind through her strong will, intelligence, deeply held commitment to justice and equality, and determination to break through barriers for women lives on through Barbara’s daughters, grandchildren, and the many people she touched throughout her life.

Services Thursday, 10:30 AM at Chicago Jewish Funerals, 8851 Skokie Blvd (at Niles Center Rd) Skokie. Interment Westlawn. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Chicago Botanic Garden, www.chicagobotanic.org/donate or the Lincoln Park Zoo, www.lpzoo.org. To attend the funeral live stream, please visit our website. Arrangements by Chicago Jewish Funerals - Skokie Chapel, 847.229.8822, www.cjfinfo.com