Barbara R. Palin

Barbara Rose Holmes Pereyra Zuercher Palin passed away the morning of December 1, 2025. Barb’s health suddenly declined the week of her 89th birthday. In true Barbara fashion, she helped self diagnose her condition along the way. She was strong of mind and spirit into her last days, cared for and comforted by her daughters and sons. Barb was truly loved by those who knew her.

She was cited in her senior nursing school year book The Creed as being full of Mirth, Merriment and Mischievousness. And she was, inquisitive and buoyant throughout her days. Mentor and friend to many, daughter, mother, Barbara was smart, self sufficient and had a kind heart.

Lately, her correspondences and concerns were with her scattered family and longtime friends and companions, including cousins Charlene and Sue, and friends Jan and Donna, Jane, and neighbor Tim. Barbara truly appreciated all the well wishes. In the end, as in the beginning, family and friends brought Barbara joy and made life meaningful.

We all carry the best of Barb in us, the aspirational, can do, must do, do by necessity. A Great Generation era girl, Barbara had a knack for friendship and finding kindred spirits. She also shared an enormous sense of life as a great adventure, a sensibility that burns brightly in others in her family.

Barbara Rose Holmes was born at Memorial Hospital in Lima, Ohio on November 14, 1936 to Richard O. Holmes and Rose E. Dunahay, also from Lima. Richard was 23 then and worked as a laborer at Ohio Steel while Rose was a year younger and listed on the birth certificate as housewife.

When asked recently, what’s your name, Barbara, she finally answered, Barbara Rose Holmes. And so she was, Barbara of many names, to go with the multifaceted lives, her several excellent careers, and her wonderful resiliency and capacity to be a touchstone for those who loved her.

She grew up with sisters Kay and Alyce and close cousin Jane in Lima, Ohio. This group of girls seemed so daring, even in those old pictures of the girls as kids. Barbara seemed to be the center of gravity. She was both photogenic and had a knack with the camera and creativity. She snapped several probing selfies in her teens. She also had a love of reading and learning in general. She once said she either wanted to be a teacher or nurse.

Barbara graduated from Lima Central High School in 1954 and entered the freshman class at Flower Hospital School of Nursing in Toledo, Ohio, in 1955, where she was active and popular. She was on the photography staff for The Creed, the school yearbook that chronicled the life and times of the nursing students as they prepared themselves to be “Capped” and graduate as certified nurses.

Nursing was Barbara’s North Star. It was nursing that organized her life, gave her nurturing friendships and purpose and a sustained career that allowed her to raise her diverse family. Like any nurses of her era, Barbara was lively and bold and brave and

quite capable; she also seemed to know nearly everything, from the from medical ailments and cures to finances for the single woman with kids, to the mechanics of running a household or hospital floor.

A voracious reader, Barbara was a lifelong fan of esoteric knowledge and the hidden mysteries of life.

Barbara was a Head Nurse at St. Rita’s Hospital in Lima, Ohio in the mid 1970s when she accepted a job at Manatee Memorial Hospital in sunny Bradenton, Florida. She sold the house, packed her car and most of the kids, said goodbye to everyone and began anew. In her usual fashion as a focused planner, Barbara later confessed that she had researched the best possible place to relocate.

Her last gig at Manatee Memorial was as head of the then newly launched Cardiac Unit, where she herself would become a patient.

Many names and characters figured in Barb’s numerous nursing stories, from Jean and Fred to Sue and Dee and Lawrence, Joe, Donna, Chris and Jan.

After nursing, Barb remained active. There was a fond stretch of at the local Publix Bakery, where she enjoyed the endless breads and desserts. Barbara took up quilting and puzzled through a series of thoughtful, stylish quilts. She collected curios, cloth and pets, including backyard birds at the birdbath and her rescue Greyhounds. She had a weakness for chihuahuas. She loved her devoted cat and companion Bella, at rest herself in Barb’s beloved Bayshore Gardens.

Barbara was active with the R.N. Club of Manatee-Sarasota, serving for a stretch as president. She was loyal to her Lima ties and stayed connected.

Mrs. Palin, as she was called by work companions, was fortified by an inner strength and resilience that saw her through life’s sorrows and allowed her to take care of those she loved. She was a cornerstone of strength and did her best to create a better life for herself and those she cared for. She will be sorely and eternally missed.

Barbara Holmes Palin lies at rest at Manasota Memorial Park in the center park mausoleum in Bradenton, Florida. Her family hopes to hold a life celebration in the springtime of this amazing and singular woman. We welcome you to remember and celebrate this dear soul.

She is survived by three daughters Carlota Rosellen Allocco, Paula Jeanette Gregory, Marcella Faye Palin, two sons, including Abel Augusto Pereyra, grand kids, Rachel Alexandria Adams, Jacob Andrew Gregory, Dunahay Eden Pereyra and Maia Rose Pereyra, and great grand children, Nash Michael Adams and Oban Ronan Gregory.