Barbara H. Rice

Barbara Helen Winston Rice, 85, of Pittsburgh, formerly of Bradford, PA, Itzehoe, Germany, St. Marys, PA, Elmira, NY, Chicago, IL, and Detroit, MI, passed away Wednesday, June 13, at Sunrise Senior Living, following a lengthy illness. She was born on March 25, 1933, in Saginaw, MI. She was the daughter of Dewey Richard Winston and Esther Pauline Kaufeld. On June 29, 1957, she married Lester Rice at Grace Lutheran Church, in Detroit, MI.

Surviving are her sister Nancy (Donald) Wilborn of Nokomis, Florida; her three sons, Scott (Carina Karlsson) Rice of Sarasota, FL, Jeffrey (Julie Wilber) Rice of Bradford, PA, Timothy (Caroline Satterwhite) Rice of Gibsonia, PA; and her two daughters, Jody (Carl) Kjellberg of Mahwah, NJ, and Judith (Chuck Kim) Conklin, of Woodbridge, VA. Also surviving are her 12 grandchildren: Adam and Alex Rice; Chris Johnson, Carl and Katherine Kjellberg; Irene and Robert Rice; Matthew and Maria Kim; and John, Julia, and Jake Rice. Barbara is preceded in death by her husband, Lester, and her granddaughter, Amanda Rice.

Barbara received her Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Michigan State University. During her summers in college, she served as a waitress on the SS South American, a passenger cruiser in the Great Lakes, where all staff performed song and dance numbers during the cruise. Upon graduation from college, she became a teacher but soon realized her love for travel so she joined TWA as a flight attendant and was based out of Chicago. There she met her lifelong love, Lester Rice, a Westinghouse engineer. After they were married, they moved to Elmira, NY, where she taught for two more years until the birth of their first of 5 children.

Barbara was well known for her extensive community service and received an award in 2005 for her outstanding community leadership qualities. She served on the Board of Directors at the Bradford YWCA and YMCA. She was a literacy volunteer at the Bradford Public Library and was instrumental in establishing the Annual United Way Children's Festival. She served on the Bradford Regional Medical Center Board of Directors and as the President of their Auxiliary Board. She turned the Hospital Resale Shop from an unprofitable service to a profitable enterprise for the hospital and the community. She initiated and established the hospital Surgical Liaison program, started the ICU-CCU (coronary care) Liaison program, and sponsored many hospital fund raisers such as the Chair-ity Auction and Ball. In addition to her other community service, she was instrumental in the "Light Up the Marquee" project which helped raise funds to refurbish the Bradford Main Street Moviehouse. She was very active in the First Presbyterian Church where she was an Elder and served on the Board of Deacons. Barbara and her husband established a scholarship program for the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford that has enabled and enriched many young lives with education.

Funeral services for family and friends will be held at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 17th, at the Harriett B. Wick Chapel Pitt-Bradford immediately followed by a luncheon at the University.

It is the family's wish, in lieu of flowers, that contributions be sent to the Bradford, PA YWCA Capital Campaign at http://ywcabradford.org/donate-now/ or the First Presbyterian Church, Bradford, PA.