Barbara Padgug passed away at the age of 75 on November 23, 2004 in Boca Raton, Florida.
She is survived by Jacob Padgug, her husband of more then fifty-six years, son David Page (Joel David Padgug) and wife Roberta, daughter Sariva Goetz and husband Michael, and grandchildren Joshua Goetz, Rachel Goez and Hannah Page.
Barbara was born on June 3, 1929 in the Bronx, New York, to Saul and Dorothy (Rozanski) Karp (Karpovzki), both originally from Slonim.
She had one brother, three years her junior, who died at the age of thirty-four. Barbara was a precocious child, graduating from high school at the age of sixteen. She attended City College in New-York – the 23rd street branch, famous for its programs in business. Formerly an all male school, Barbara was one of the only a handful of women who in 1950 graduated City College with a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting.
Barbara met Jacob in 1947, and they married a year later on June 19, 1948, while both were still in college. They resided in the New-York area until 1965, when they moved to the town of Greenfield in western Massachusetts, where Jacob serves for thirteen years as Dean of Faculty of Greenfield Community College. Barbara accepted a position as a staff accountant with the largest public accounting firm in the area. She was the first female accountant in Franklin County, breaking ground for other women to follow. She remained with that firm for 29 years. Upon her retirement in 1994, Barbara and Jacob moved to Boca Raton.
Several of her clients from Massachusetts refused to deal with anyone else, and Barbara continued to serve their needs by telephone and mail. Some even brought their tax work to her in Florida. Barbara used to "un-retire" for tax season each year and "re-retire" after tax season.
In the last year of her life, Barbara and Jacob were among the founding members of Temple Beth Shira, a Reform congregation in Boca Raton. She served on the board of directors and as the congregation's treasurer
Barbara loved to travel – and over the years she and Jacob traveled extensively. They spanned the United States from coast to coast by automobile numerous times. They visited Europe on several trips. Barbara loved Israel, and they visited three times – most recently for a five week stay in the fall of 2000, shortly after the start of the second intifada. Barbara and cousin, Chaim Karpovski, recently deceased, on Kibbutz Hamaapil. Through Karp family contacts, the Padgugs met and became friends with Zvi and Gita Shefet. They also had some close Israeli friends whom they "adopted" when the young Israeli couple was students at Greenfield Community College. As their son Joel said in the eulogy that he delivered at Barbara's funeral:
"My mother collected two things – mismatched cups and saucers, and people".
And Joel was right. Especially when it came to people.
Barbara was always a tower of strength, a loving wife, a devoted mother and grandmother, and an inspiration to all who knew her.
