Coping with Grief
We would like to offer our sincere support to anyone coping with grief. Enter your email below for our complimentary daily grief messages. Messages run for up to one year and you can stop at any time. Your email will not be used for any other purpose.
Barbara Jean Glaysher (nee Duren), formerly of Cazenovia and Madison, WI, passed away on June 18, 2022, surrounded by family at the well-lived age of 84. She left this earthly world from Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, Florida, with the assistance of heavenly angels who came to take her by her soft and manicured hands to Jesus.
Barbara was a lifelong devout Roman Catholic, placing her faith in God and the church at the forefront of her life. As a child -- come rain, snow, sleet, or hail -- she would walk the mile uphill from her home on Main Street in Cazenovia to get to her church and school in Germantown. Her father, Rinold N. Duren (CPL CO. A 128th INF), was the Postmaster in Cazenovia, along with his wife Anna. He also served as a soldier in WWI for the US Army 32nd Division “Red Arrows” (“Les Terribles”) where he was wounded in battle, healed in a Paris infirmary, and later received the Purple Heart. His stories of France inspired Barbara to learn French, and after graduating with her Bachelor’s degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee, accepted a teaching job with the Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DODDS) at USAF Base in Chateauroux, France.
Perhaps the most colorful chapter of her storybook life began when she took off from Mitchell Field in Milwaukee to her life in France. There she soon met and married her beloved husband of 25 years, the late Gordon John Glaysher of Massapequa, Long Island, New York. Gordon was a big band leader, trumpeter, music teacher, songwriter, pioneer of jazz music in Spain, and an avid baseball and NY Yankee fan; Barbara’s brother, the late Ryne Duren was a star NY Yankee pitcher at the time. Barbara and Gordon led an exciting and adventurous journey across Europe and the Middle East, residing in various places like France, Turkey, and Spain. Despite their wanderlust travels, they successfully raised six children while continuously supporting and entertaining the US troops with music, culture, art, and education. Barbara befriended many illustrious personalities by way of her various social, artistic and religious circles, including a close lifelong friendship with her prayer partner who happened to be the childhood tutor of the current King of Spain.
Upon her husband’s sickness and death, Barbara had a strong desire to return to her home state of Wisconsin. Turning the page from her established residence in Spain, she relocated to Madison with her two youngest now high-school aged sons, and bravely re-established herself in a new profession as an educational tools sales representative.
Barbara enjoyed beer and brats with the Brewers, popcorn with TCM, reading and re-reading international spy novels by Aline Griffith, visiting with her close friends (Amanda, Pat, Sarah, and Nancy among others), and mastering the weekly New York Times crossword puzzle. Barbara had exquisite taste in art, fashion, and gastronomy, but was particularly talented in calligraphy, and loved the written word. She had an affinity for writing anything down -- as evidenced by her piles of post-it notes, notebooks, and of course, thoughtful thank-you cards, birthday cards, Christmas cards, Easter cards, or simple, beautiful notes of encouragement.
Barbara was a natural mother and caretaker, always putting her kids before herself, and certainly Jesus and all of the Saints before her in line too. Her sweet disposition, wry sense of humor, selfless acts of compassion, admiration for nature, obsession for raking leaves, and glorious idealism for a better world will be sorely missed by those who knew her and so deeply loved her.
Barbara was preceded in death by her mother Anna (nee Murphy), father Rinold, husband Gordon, four brothers and two sisters: Vincent (the late Jane) of Cazenovia; Lawrence (the late Kitty Rae) of Middleton; Rinold “Ryne” (Diane) of Cazenovia; Edward of Madison; Bonnie (the late Fran) Greenheck of Wabasha, MN and Annette (the late Art) Scherbert of Milwaukee (former Alderwoman and long-time member of Milwaukee’s Common Council).
Barbara was the proud and devoted mother of six children all of whom survive her, including Monica (David) Wells, of Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Danielle Glaysher Cobian, of Sarasota, FL; Robin Jane Glaysher of Fort Worth, TX; Matthew (Andrea) Glaysher of Ithaca, NY; Andrew Glaysher of Madrid, Spain; and Thomas (Lelia) Glaysher of St. Petersburg, FL. She was a loving grandmother to Isabelle, Vincent, Pia, Sienna, Lelia B., Antonio, Carmen, Francisco, and Tomas, and great-grandmother to Ranger and Reagan.
Barbara is survived by her oldest sister Mary (the late Robert) Hecht of Racine; Brother In-law David Glaysher (the late Ellie) of Ormond Beach, FL; and Sister In-law Lana Glaysher (the late Douglas) of Bentonville, AR, numerous cherished nieces and nephews, extended family, congregants of St. Maria Goretti in Madison, fellow DODDS teachers, and friends from all corners of the world.
Visitation will be at St. Anthony de Padua Church, Cazenovia, Friday, July 8th at 10 AM, followed by a Funeral Mass and graveside burial at St. Anthony’s Cemetery. An additional remembrance opportunity will be held Saturday from noon to 4PM at The Voyageur Inn in Reedsburg.
The family would like to give special thanks to the staff at Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, FL, for the compassionate care given to Barbara; we would also like to thank Connie Marcus who was her at home care-giver for nearly 3 years.
If desired, memorials to the following organizations are suggested: Alzheimer’s Association, Wisconsin VFW, St. Anthony’s Church, Cazenovia (436), childrens feed the hungry, Farm Aid, or St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church, Madison.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Barbara J. Glaysher, please visit our floral store.