Barbara Weisenfeld

Funeral services are private.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.frederick-fh.com for the Weisenfeld family.

Barbara Anastasia George Weisenfeld, age 91, of Laurelton, New York, died on April 19, 2022. She was born on October 15, 1930 in Roxborough, Tobago, one of seven children of James Urias George and Maud Fraser George, both originally from Grenada. She graduated from St. Joseph’s Convent School in Port of Spain, Trinidad in 1948 and completed the University of Cambridge A-Levels. She married Bernard Weisenfeld in Port of Spain in 1953. After his military service, during which they lived in El Paso, Texas and Albuquerque, New Mexico, they settled in Brooklyn and later Laurelton, Queens with their five children.

She spent most of her career at the Open Door Student Exchange, beginning as a secretary and later promoted to the Placement Director for High School exchange students from many countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. She loved the travel her work at Open Door made possible as well as the opportunity to use the several languages she spoke in her work.

She was co-president of the Federation of Laurelton Block Associations, served as President of the Parents Association of P.S. 156, and was engaged with a variety of local school board issues.

She was a fearless advocate for racial justice and in 1976, she and Bernie spearheaded the opposition to attempts to re-segregate I.S. 231 in Rosedale, which some of their children attended. The lawsuit the NAACP filed on their behalf against the school district resulted in a Federal Court ruling that prevented the re-segregation of the school. In 1981 the Jamaica Branch of the NAACP recognized her “dedication to an equal and quality education for all children.”

She was a devoted parishioner of St. Mary Magdalene Roman Catholic Church in Springfield Gardens, Queens from 1966 until her death, serving many years as a Lector, a Sunday School teacher, and a member of the parish’s Women’s Group. She loved traveling, plants, baseball, the New York Mets and New York Yankees, a good joke, game shows, and was a talented knitter and crocheter. Her afghans and sweaters are treasured by many and will warm and comfort them for many years to come.

She was predeceased by her sisters Sylvia and Bridget and her brothers Rupert and Winston. She is survived by her husband of 68 years, Bernard, her children Joan Bailey (Lawrence), Neil Weisenfeld (Veronica Lawlor), Paul Weisenfeld (Natalia), Judith Weisenfeld (Timea Széll), and Alan Weisenfeld (Natonée), and her sisters Helen Beckles and Jocelyn George. She leaves behind six grandchildren (

Leina, Ashley, Danielle, Gyliane, Shelby, and Chelsea), and two great-grandchildren (Amelia and Luke).