Barbara T Gill

Barbara-Ann loved fishing and boating. If the sun was shining, she would "Rather be Fishing".

Giving to others brought her joy. She always made the holidays special for everyone. She cooked and baked the most fabulous meals, cookies and pastries. How she managed to get everything done for the holidays is still a wonder to us all.

Sewing is an art that she learned from her father in New Jersey when she was a teenager. She was an amazing seamstress. She made Halloween costumes, school clothes, and even costumes for the local theater group in Coral Springs.

She truly could "Do Anything"!

After graduating nursing school in New Jersey, she worked in Perth Amboy General Hospital for a few years. When the family moved to Florida she started her career in long-term care, lasting 37 years. Starting at a local nursing home as Assistant Director of Nursing. Then moving on to several facilities as Director of Nursing. Finally becoming Director of Clinical Services overlooking nursing functions in facilities in Florida and New Jersey. Late in her career she was asked for her opinion in legal cases involving long-term care. She consulted attorneys for nearly 15 years almost always for the defense.

Barbara is survived by her husband of 56 years John: her daughter Kimberly Gill Potanovic, her husband Bill and their son Timothy John: her daughter Suzy with her two daughters Danielle Marie Nickelson and Jessica Lynn Nickelson, and two great grandchildren John Carl Harris (Jessica) and Penelope Ann Nickelson (Danielle): her son John Michael Gill, his wife Kristen and their daughter Brittany Chris Gill. She is also survived by her sister Annmarie DiMascio and her son Anthony John (AJ) DiMascio.

A visitation for Barbara will be held Thursday, September 7, 2023 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM at Kraeer Funeral Home and Cremation Center, 1655 University Drive, Coral Springs, FL 33071.

Contributions in Barbara's memory may be made to Alzheimer's Association , https://www.alz.org/.

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

Barbara’s Eulogy – September 3, 2023

Barbara was born October 8, 1946, in Margaret Haig Maternity Hospital. If you asked anyone from Jersey City, you would think half the population was born there. The family lived in that town for many years. But when Barb was a senior in high school they moved to Edison, NJ. She finished her senior year in this new school.

When talking to her cousins this week, they said even as a youngster she was an organizer and go-getter. Barb started Charles E. Gregory School of Nursing in the Fall of 1964. She did very well while there. Living in the dorm in a class of about 30 girls. There was a 9 PM curfew during the week and 10:30 PM on weekends. I think this is where she learned to “push the envelope”.

I met Barb in the Fall of 1965, 58 years ago. This won’t be the story of us, but her story. Nursing school was going very well but we decided to marry, and the school had her drop out. After a year or so, she reapplied to finish her diploma courses. The school administration said NO. Barb kept pressing, agreeing to live at home and commute to class daily. I didn’t impose any curfews. She finished the year and began working as an RN in the pediatric ward.

Eventually she moved to the tonsil ward. She rearranged patient care and admissions. She worked three days a week. The administration wanted more. Her reply “are they removing tonsils any more days?” The answer was no. Barb kept working three days a week in the tonsil unit.

Barb started her joy of Christmas buying gifts for everyone. Family and friends. Ever increasing the decorations. Once she bought a 5-foot wooden star that I was to mount on the roof. This was a Cape Cod house with a steep shingled roof. I’m figuring out how to mount it when my shoes start slipping. Here I go with the star following. I reach the edge of the roof. I jump, and the star falls behind me. I still had to go up and mount it, successfully this time.

Sometime later we moved to Florida and Barb took some forced time off due to a car accident. She smashed her elbow and couldn’t work because of the pain, an ulnar nerve that had to be rerouted around the healing bone. Her therapy was applying single glued eye lashes a couple times a week. She became quite adept at it.

We lived in North Lauderdale. Barb took care of the kids Kim, Suzy and now John born in Florida. She was also class mother, school nurse, and chauffer for the kids. Barb always said she wanted ten children, after three it was enough.

After the troubles with her arm settled down, we were ready to move. We chose a slightly distressed house in Coral Springs. Barb decided to work “to help pay the mortgage. She thought it was just a job, but it led to a 37-year career in long term care.

She started as a floor nurse distributing meds and in a short time became Assistant Director of Nursing. Over time she worked at two facilities as Director of Nursing and for a short time as a consultant to local facilities. Then she was called back to her former employer as Director of Clinical Services, overseeing facilities in Florida and New Jersey. She held this position for over twenty years.

Barbara believed in her staff. She encouraged cleaners to become aids. Aids to become LPNs. LPNs to become RNs. I believe one or two of her protegees were appointed Directors of Nursing,

During this time, she began assisting lawyers in legal cases against nursing homes. She would receive stacks of records; Barb would review them in detail and provide a synopsis of the case to the attorney. The detail and interpretation of the data with Barb’s presentation usually ended in a win for the defense. This became a part time business. I was her secretary and accountant. She did this part time work for over 15 years.

You would think she had no time for anything else. But there was boating on the weekends, caring for the growing family, we now had grandchildren who spent a lot of time with us, and she continued to work projects for Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts. My pack had a forest of stuffed Christmas trees as a project. Barb did the sewing, and the Cubs did the stuffing.

More than once we heard “Barb was the smartest woman they knew”. That’s what hurt as the dementia set in. It became a family joke the Barb bought too much. Little did we know that’s an early sign of dementia. As it progressed her world became smaller. No more going to restaurants. Only seeing family at our home or their home. Then being home bound and in the end being bed bound.

From the vibrant young go-getter to the determined young lady and to the smartest woman I knew, we are here today to remember each of them as we knew her.