Barbara Angrist

Barbara Sylvia Sinrod Angrist, mother of three, grandmother of eight, recruiter of professional talent, teacher of children by training and instructor to all of us until the end, died peacefully on June 5, 2023 in Tamarac, FL at the age of 84 and just three days shy of her 85th birthday.

Barbara was born in Brooklyn, NY on June 8, 1938 to Nathan Sinrod, a lawyer, and Edith Blinderman, a homemaker. A granddaughter of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, she straddled both worlds, often reminiscing about the values that were instilled in her from her forebears coupled with the modern, American life in which she grew up. She always remarked how, as much as she grew up in Brooklyn, Brooklyn grew up with her. She lived at the edge of town near Sheepshead Bay before many of the streets were even paved. She attended Lincoln High School and then Courtland State Teachers College (now SUNY-Courtland). She taught students in the New York State public school system before retiring to raise a family with her beloved husband, Alan, who predeceased her in 2002. Her close friendships and her various Mahjong and Canasta groups and the relationships she forged through them, some that lasted over fifty years, played a very important part of her life.

She later reinvented herself as a recruiter of talent, spending years helping healthcare professionals find employment, a career for which she was well-suited and she excelled at and enjoyed very much. Post her final work retirement, she set off the see the world and was planning her next trip to Israel right up until her passing. Jewish life was also very much a part of her. She took so many Zoom classes during the COVID pandemic, that she began writing a weekly blog on Israel and Judaism with her teacher. At the age of 81, she decided to become 12 again and learn Hebrew to hold the Bat Mitzvah service that women of her generation did not have. After studying long and hard, her face lit up the room when she read from the Torah and held her afterparty, which even included a DJ playing music from her whole lifetime.

But, her greatest joy in life, bar none, was her family. She remarked even in the last year of her life that she wanted to be remembered first and foremost as “a wonderful Grandmother”. And, she was, with gusto. Her large family left behind to mourn her passing and celebrate her long life well lived, includes her daughter Melissa (Jason), sons Jonathan (Meredith) and Gregory (Sara), and her grandchildren, Brandon z”l, Ethan, Ridley, Tate, Beckett, Alexandra, Fisher and Jonah. She was a role model to her family and her friends alike. Her light might have been extinguished, but it continues to burn in all of those she touched. Rest easy.

In lieu of flowers, the family prefers donations to be made in memory of Barbara Angrist to the Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center of Boca Raton to help support Jewish learning.

A funeral service for Barbara will be held Thursday, June 8, 2023 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Menorah Gardens & Funeral Chapels, 21100 West Griffin Road, Southwest Ranches, FL 33332.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.menorahfuneralchapel.com for the Angrist family.