Barbara Ann (Jesionowski) McCormack

Barbara was a pioneer in the conversation about equal pay for women. Her battle started in the 60s when she saw the men around her get higher raises than she did. When she asked about it, she was told it’s because they had families to support at home. When she explained that she had children at home as well, she was fired. She continued this struggle throughout her working life.

She was a gifted writer. She was asked many times to write articles, tributes, eulogies and columns in newspapers. She had an ongoing column in the Maryland paper The Bel Air News and her pen name was Maxie. She had uniquely beautiful penmanship.

She loved to talk about her life growing up in the 30s and 40s. She loved talking about her grandparents and aunts and uncles. She loved picking fresh fruit and vegetables as a child. The hard times of the depression and the war years (WWII) did not bother her. She always said her growing up years were the best of times. She loved fresh air and being outside. She loved flowers. She loved the beach and the ocean but was deathly afraid of water because she could not swim.

Barbara loved to bake. Her family Christmas cookie recipe is still active in the family today. She made the best homemade pie crust. She loved homemade muffins, poppyseed bread and cake donuts. She made homemade spiked eggnog every Christmas, and every year she got requests for more. She loved games, all kinds of games, but scrabble, Phase 10 and dominoes were up there among her favorites. She loved the NY Times crossword puzzles and was an avid follower of politics. She loved all kinds of music but especially the old country classics.

She met the love of her life and soul mate, David Hammond McCormack, and they married in the 80s. They bought a sailboat and in their 60s sailed the intracoastal waterways from New England to Florida on their own. She said it was the experience of a lifetime. She was not afraid of the next adventure in life. She was fiercely independent. She could find a hidden gem in a pile of junk. She was 92 years young. She could have gone on and on in this life but her body was tired.

She was predeceased by her loving husband and soulmate, David Hammond McCormack, her daughter, Deborah Louise Dalrymple Currier and her son, Ralph Oliver Dalrymple. She is also predeceased by her sisters, Alice Jesionowski Weaver and Irene Jesionowski Palmer and her brother, Father Richard Jesionowski. She is survived by 4 of her loving children, Betsie Dalrymple Peter & her husband, Kevin Peter of Morganton, NC, Matthew Paul Dalrymple of Morganton, NC, Doris Susan Dalrymple and her husband Steven Nichols of Weymouth, MA and Charles Michael Dalrymple of Tampa, FL. She is also survived by her loving sister, Dollie Jesionowski Schrantz and her husband, Leonard Schrantz of Dunkirk, NY. She is also survived by her devoted grandson, Charles (CJ) DiNenna of Morganton, NC, and several grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren, as well as many nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.

A memorial celebration of life service will be held at a later date in her hometown of Dunkirk, NY. Memorial donations can be made to K9 For Warriors at donate.k9sforwarriors.org

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at dignitymemorial.com for the McCormack family.