Barbara Rosenblum

With great sadness, we announce the passing of our wonderful mom and grandma, Barbara Rosenblum (nee Wernick), “Ooma”, who passed away on March 27, 2024, at the age of 90.

Barbara was born in Brooklyn, New York to Eastern European immigrants, Ida and Alex Wernick. Barbara was raised, along with her older brother Irwin, to value family, education and lifelong learning - all themes which remained first and foremost throughout her life. Barbara married Bernie Rosenblum at the young age of 19 - within weeks of graduating from the City College of New York. Barbara and Bernie moved to Huntington, Long Island, where they raised two daughters, Marla and Abby.

Barbara was not your typical housewife of the 50s/60s as she valued the opportunity to have a career. After trying out several jobs, she worked her way into a full-time elementary school teaching role, later attending classes herself and then obtaining her master’s degree in education. Barbara adored children of all ages, so teaching elementary school was right up her alley. After 20 years of teaching predominantly fifth graders, Barbara retired from the South Huntington School District.

Upon her retirement, Barbara and Bernie relocated to Tucson, Arizona. Bernie continued his career as a brilliant Mechanical Engineer, while Barbara began her next education-oriented career at Biosphere 2. Initially working as a tour guide, she later headed up educational programs for visiting students. At this time in their lives, and in years prior, Barbara and Bernie took immense pleasure in traveling, and they explored the world, from the Caribbean to Japan and China. Bernie sadly passed away in 1992 after Barbara and Bernie had enjoyed 39 years of marriage.

Barbara’s thirst for lifelong learning helped her move forward after Bernie’s passing, and she became involved with the University of Arizona, contributing the her family history to the Southwest Jewish Archives. She continued taking courses on a variety of topics including mini medical school, Jewish mysticism and the Conversos of the Southwest.

In her quest for learning, she met and connected with her neighbor, friend and kindred spirit, Israel Rubin, who shared her same quest for learning until Israel’s untimely passing just prior to their wedding. Barbara soon thereafter moved to the Philadelphia area to be closer to her children and grandchildren.

As her health deteriorated, she moved to an independent living community in Pennsylvania where she enjoyed new friends, attending classes, and spending time with her nearby family.

From Mom, we daughters learned to be strong, independent and caring women. She taught us the value of clear decision-making and fighting for our beliefs and goals. As children, we knew that our mom was an incredible, special person. And throughout our adult lives, respect for our mom never stopped growing.

Barbara is survived by daughters, Marla (Ron) and Abby (Randy), grandchildren Kyle (Thomas) and Sophie (Mario). The funeral service will be held at 1:00 PM on Friday, March 29 at Beth David Cemetery in Elmont, New York. Shiva will take place at the home of Abby and Randy Schwartz on March 30, 31, and April 1 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania (CHOP), https://www.chop.edu/giving/get-involved/how-make-gift, the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, https://uihc.org/childrens/donations, or Compassus Hospice, https://www.compassus.com/about-us/giving-and-donations/ who provided tremendous care for Barbara in her final months.