Barbara Sjostrom

The recent loss of our beloved friend Barbara Sjostrom allows those of us who were close to her or had the privilege of knowing her, the opportunity to share wonderful memories of the multiple ways in which she touched and enriched our respective lives. This website was created for that purpose.
Throughout Barbara’s life she was able to be part of many families in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Mexico; all places where she lived for long periods of her life. During her growing up years in Minoa, New York she was surrounded by the love of her Goodfellow and Burke birth families. She shared her undergraduate college years at the University at Albany, SUNY with the Sjostrom family. Later on she was “adopted” by other extended families with which she developed strong loving and enduring ties at different points in time: the Farroch-Rendic family in Mexico and later on in the US; the Acosta-Belén, Acosta-Vega, and Bravo families in Puerto Rico; the Hill and Smith families in Albany; the Hill-Jacobs family in the Boston area; the BirdForteza and Villegas families in New York; the López family in California; and the De Paz family in Gainesville.
Anyone who met Barbara for the first time would be immediately drawn by her personable, friendly, and caring style. She was the kind of person who would easily lend a generous hand or an empathetic ear to anyone in need. Most of all, she was a loving, giving, and loyal individual to those who were part of her incredible circle of families and friends. We will all miss her physical presence terribly, but also feel lucky that she shared with us a treasured legacy of wonderful times and loving memories during her lifetime that will always remain in our hearts and minds.
Barbara had a rich and productive professional life. Being passionate about teaching, she always enjoyed being in the classroom inspiring and training new generations of teachers, touching the lives of thousands of students through the years and gaining their respect and admiration. Whether it was at the Institute of Interpreters and Translators in Mexico City or US higher education institutions such SUNY-New Paltz, SUNY-Old Westbury, SUNY-Albany or Rowan University in New Jersey, where she was a Full Professor when she retired in 2006, Barbara never doubted that she was part of an honorable and rewarding profession; a profession for which she received due recognition when Rowan University granted her the prestigious National Lindback Award for Excellence in Teaching (2001), which added to two previous excellence in teaching and scholarship awards. Outside the classroom, she remained active, even after retirement, holding in-service teacher training workshops at colleges and public schools, making conference presentations in the US and internationally (e.g. China, Germany, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Sweden), publishing in areas such as teaching for diversity and inclusion and multicultural education, and also being a teaching assessment and grant evaluation consultant for various educational projects. Along with her professional work, Barbara also continued enjoying her classical music and operas, and her outings with her Gainesville friends, especially the Mermaids circle of women friends with their weekly swimming aerobics and visits to feed the horses at a nearby farm. But most of all, with her cell phone nearby, Barbara regularly kept in touch with all the people she cared about.
Barbara underwent open heart surgery in May 2018 to repair some leaking valves, the result of her breast cancer chemotherapy treatments over a decade and a half ago, which contributed to her congestive heart condition. Surgical and post-surgical complications accounted for an initial prolonged hospitalization period, followed by an intensive cycle of physical and other rehabilitation therapies, a three-month period at home and, during the last month of her life, a second hospitalization. By late summer, the level of progress she was achieving as a result of her physical and occupational therapies made her and all of us hope that she would eventually be able to achieve her goal to return to an independent life. Unfortunately, it was not to be. A series of new infections during this stage created serious setbacks that, despite Barbara’s courage, determination, and good spirits, her body was not able to overcome. All along her prolonged medical ordeal, the significant number of people who loved Barbara (too many to mention by name here and most of you know who you are), honored and moved her with expressions of love and support, and she was deeply grateful by this outpouring of love, friendship, and encouragement that kept her going. Some of us were able to spend long periods with her during her post-surgery recovery; others kept in touch with her via frequent phone calls, texts, e-mail messages, or cards. Even sometimes when Barbara was not able to answer them, she read them all daily, and there was no doubt that they kept her spirits up and she felt lucky that so many of you were thinking of her and sending prayers and good wishes.
Barbara’s wishes were to be cremated and her ashes sent to Puerto Rico and scattered in the Caribbean Sea. Walking on the Aguada Beach, contemplating the sunset, or going for a swim with Baby, Doris’ lovable poodle, were among her favorite pastimes. Her urn already made its journey to Puerto Rico and will find its final resting place in the Acosta-Belén/Acosta-Vega family grave at the Hormigueros Cemetery. A memorial service will be held in Puerto Rico in the Spring of 2019 and you will be notified of the date and place in the coming months.
As mentioned before, this website was created to allow those of us who loved Barbara, feel her loss, and will profoundly miss her physical presence in our lives, to share with each other feelings, thoughts, memories, and anecdotes that pay tribute to the loving, caring, and generous person that she was. I hope you take the opportunity to participate in this modest tribute to her life.