On May 15, 2022, Barbara died peacefully at her home surrounded by her family.
Barbara was born in Elizabeth, NJ, on September 1, 1936, to Joseph and Josephine Miller and was the younger sister of Dolores. As a child she moved to Linden, NJ, attended St. Elizabeth School and graduated from Linden High School. She worked at Bell Telephone in Elizabeth with a grade school friend. In 1955, she married her teen sweetheart, Edward Semanchik. Edward and his brother built a home in Cranford where Barbara and Ed would raise their seven children. She was active at St. Elizabeth Parish, a member of the Rosary Altar Society, active with the St. Elizabeth School PTA, and a leader in both Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts. In 1967, she moved to Toms River, NJ, near one of the family’s favorite summer vacation spots, Island Heights.
The most important things in life for Barbara were her family, dogs, her faith, and a special devotion to the Blessed Mother.
Upon moving to Toms River, Barbara quickly became a member of St. Joseph Church and the Rosary Altar Society. Barbara was persistent in wanting her children to attend St. Joseph Grade School and made an appointment to speak directly with the pastor, Fr. Donovan, to get her children enrolled. She jumped right in to become a member of the PTA and volunteered to assist at the cafeteria during lunch often rolling perfect meatballs for meatball sandwich day, serving meals or scraping lunch trays. She met new friends who also had large families like her own and developed lasting friendships.
Barbara was a busy mom raising her children. She made sure lunches were made every morning and there was a snack waiting for her children afterschool – a special treat were the big sugar cookies from the bakery and sometimes the chocolate frosted brownies! Barbara was a master at keeping track of everyone’s schedule – sport and musical practices, sewing lessons, Cub Scout and Camp Fire Girl meetings (where she met another dear friend), weekly trumpet lessons, dance classes, and numerous 4-H meetings (and more longtime friendships developed). She never missed her children’s track meets, basketball games, concerts, and dance recitals, and would likely have tickets to every show! Even as a grandmother of 10 grandchildren, you would find Barbara at football, basketball and soccer games, track and swim meets, karate lessons, horseback riding practices and competitions, many dance performances, art shows, rowing regattas, concerts, awards ceremonies and graduations. Barbara loved experiencing life through her children and grandchildren and didn’t want to miss anything!
In between all the activities, Barbara checked that all chores were completed by her children. At the end of the day, Barbara always made sure dinner was on the table and her family ate together when her husband, Ed, came home from work. Afterwards, she made sure homework was done and was always there to assist when needed sitting at the kitchen table. Barbara was a math whiz and meticulous with recordkeeping and passed this skill onto her children. Barbara always managed to fit in prayers with her family whether it was kneeling around the kitchen table saying the Rosary or the Stations of the Cross turning it into a reading lesson having each child reading a description, and ending the night with prayers at bedtime tucking each child into bed with a kiss good-night.
Every Sunday, Barbara would have everyone up and ready to load into the Station Wagon to head off to 8:00 mass where the family often took up the entire pew! After mass, the family would say special prayers to the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph. Upon arriving home, everyone quickly changed out of
their Sunday clothes, and Barbara was already cooking batches of scrambled eggs and toast for the family to enjoy.
As her children became more self-sufficient, Barbara worked in a card store, and for several years was a waitress at the Toms River Country Club. She also worked as a home health aide when on one Christmas Eve she stayed late at an ill client’s home until the family arrived. Another form of employment was working for Meals on Wheels where she would pick up individuals and bring them to a lunch site, then head out to deliver meals to homebound clients. Her friendly smile and conversation brought happiness to her clients, but sometimes she needed to use her motherly discipline to keep the senior citizens in order on her van!
As more time became available, Barbara attended daily mass at St. Joseph Church and always stayed to say the Rosary. Before leaving Barbara was sure to stop and pray at the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph statues. Afterwards, she enjoyed watching the students arrive at the grade school often seeing her grandchildren and their friends.
One thread throughout Barbara’s life was her dedication to youth development. As soon as she moved to Toms River, Barbara looked for youth organizations for her children to participate. 4-H won her heart and she quickly became a 4-H leader to start a family club. She introduced her children to her love of nature and animals. The children were involved in horticulture, entomology, rabbits, cycling, and dogs. Every summer the Station Wagon with hardly enough room for passengers would be packed with items to be exhibited at the Ocean County Fair.
Growing up Barbara had dogs, so she was sure to have a pet dog to teach her children respect and responsibility. Little did she know that her oldest son would introduce her to what would become her ultimate passion second to her family. Each Sunday evening, the family would gather around the black and white TV to watch The Wonderful World of Disney. The movie, Atta Girl, Kelly was broadcasted. It was about a boy who raised a puppy to become a Seeing Eye dog. Barbara’s son approached her with his interest in raising a Seeing Eye puppy. Barbara talked it over with her husband and it was agreed to make the phone call to get more information. In 1971, the family received their first Seeing Eye puppy named Lola. As more families became involved in the area, Barbara saw a need to start a 4-H club for youth raising Seeing Eye puppies. In 1975, Barbara established a club and became the leader of the Ocean County Seeing Eye 4-H Club. Over the years, the club grew in size and became one of the largest clubs in South Jersey. Barbara enjoyed sharing The Seeing Eye Puppy Raising Program by giving presentations with her club at libraries, schools, and for community groups and just anyone she met while out with a Seeing Eye puppy. Barbara loved sharing this experience with her children and was an integral part of raising the family’s 44 puppies, and through Barbara’s leadership, she mentored families raising over 700 puppies in the 47 years of being the club leader. The success of the club to this day was due in part to Barbara’s warm welcome, caring personality, and always being available to assist families when they had questions.
Other joys in Barbara’s life include:
* Her Polish heritage. Although she never spoke Polish fluently and only learning a few words, she did pass on her love of traditions and Polish food.
* Disney. It was her favorite place to visit especially with her children and grandchildren. She always had to ride “Cinderella’s Carousel” and “It’s a Small World”.
* Being outside and enjoying nature. She loved to collect feathers, look for butterfly eggs on Milkweed, name trees and flowers, had fond memories of her anniversary trip to the Grand Canyon and riding mules and wanted all of us to experience it, taking walks with her family and her dogs in the woods and on the beach, taking her grandchildren to playgrounds when they were younger, and just sitting and watching her grandchildren and dogs playing in the yard.
* Watching the soap opera, Guiding Light, in her younger days.
* Crocheting blankets for her children and grandchildren, and even at 84 years old crocheted a section of a blanket for her great-grandson.
* Sending cards for birthdays and special occasions. Barbara never forgot a birthday!
Barbara was predeceased by her parents, Joseph and Josephine Miller; her sister, Dolores Miller Semanchik; numerous aunts, uncles, brother-in-laws, cousins, and a sister-in-law.
Barbara is survived by her faithful husband of 66 years, Edward M. Semanchik, their seven children, 10 grandchildren and one great-grandson: Jo Ann Lopez and husband Dr. Richard Lopez (Dr. Karen Lopez, and Janette Bohensky and husband Stosh and son Philip); Mark Semanchik and wife Vivian Vassar (Raymond Vassar Semanchik, Louis Vassar Semanchik, and Delia Vassar Semanchik); Robert Semanchik; David Semanchik and wife Sherry Miller Semanchik (Jessica DeSomma and husband Dylan, and Clayton Semanchik); Stephen Semanchik; Joseph Semanchik and wife Laura Carbonara Semanchik (Nicholas Semanchik and Micaela Semanchik); and Christine Higham and husband John Higham (Marissa Higham)
She is also survived by her Aunt MaryAnn Onacki, Sister-in-Law Barbara Semanchik Baker, and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.
To view memories of Barbara’s life in photos, please follow this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Gp3QNWAtk1S1jhc18
These are some of Barbara’s favorite charities, so please consider making a donation in Barbara’s memory.
The Seeing Eye
ATTN: D & PR P.O. Box 375
Morristown, NJ 07963-0375 or visit www.seeingeye.org
Farm Sanctuary
PO Box 150
Watkins Glen, NY 14891
https://www.farmsanctuary.org/
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
501 St. Jude Place
Memphis, TN 38105
Ocean County 4-H Youth Development
(Ocean County 4-H Programs)
1623 Whitesville Rd
Toms River, NJ 08755
St. Labre Indian School Ashland, MT 59004 www.stlabre.org
To celebrate Barbara’s life, on Saturday, June 4, 2022, there will be a 10:00am funeral mass at St. Joseph's Church, 685 Hooper Ave., Toms River, NJ 08753, followed by burial at St. Joseph Cemetery, 56 Cedar Grove Rd., Toms River, NJ 08753.
Seeing Eye puppies are welcome at the church.
Partager l'avis de décès
v.1.9.5