Barbara Brandeberry, age 89, of Bowling Green, Ohio passed away Saturday November 30, 2019. Barbara was born in Toledo to Aquilla and Harriet Boyer and later adopted by her paternal grandparents Burt and Trola Marie Boyer.
She attended Sylvania Burnham High School and in her senior year she graduated from Oscoda High School in Michigan in 1948.
After graduation, Barbara returned to Toledo and worked for National Exchange Club Headquarters. She took vocal lessons from Helen Lease Sloan and sang in the choir at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. She met and married the church’s associate pastor, The Rev. Edward D. Brandeberry. They were married 53 ½ years. He preceded her in death in 2004.
After serving churches in Athens, Springfield, Maumee, Cincinnati, and Van Wert, her husband became administrator of church retirement homes in Cincinnati and Louisville, Kentucky. While in Kentucky, Barbara resumed her education receiving her Bachelor of Science with honors from the University of Louisville and became a licensed Nursing Home Administrator for the Eastern Star Home of Kentucky and a Social Service director for the Jeffersontown Home.
During her academic and professional career Barbara received many honors including membership in the Golden Key National Business Honor Society, the Woodcock Scholastic Society, certified as a National Therapeutic Recreation Specialist and named a Rotary Foundation Paul Harris Fellow. The United Methodist Women honored her for contributions made to the Cincinnati and Portage churches.
In 1980, Barbara received Kentucky’s Outstanding College Senior award, covering all the Kentucky universities and colleges, for her academics and community service. In 1981 she was listed in the Who’s Who among students in American Universities and Colleges. She developed an Older Adult Recreational History Survey the received a U.S. certificate of copyright.
When Barbara and her husband retired and moved to the Bowling Green area, she became a tour host for Educational Opportunities, Inc. leading tours to the Middle East, Egypt, and European countries. She conducted Bible Studies at First United Methodist Church in Bowling Green and lead the Disciple Bible Study series at Christ United Methodist Church in Portage.
Surviving are a son William D. Brandeberry and his wife Roxanne of Colonial Heights, Virginia, four grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.
No local memorial service will be held. A private family service will be held later in Virginia. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Dunn Funeral Home in Bowling Green. Burial will be held in Oak Grove Cemetery.
