Barbara Verdiani

1918 - 2018

Barbara Y. Verdiani of Paoli Barbara “Bobbie” Yeoman Verdiani passed away on Tuesday, January 9, 2018 at Crosslands in Kennett Square, her home for the past 20 years, following her 45 years living in Paoli. She was the wife of Vincent L. Verdiani, with whom she spent 65 years of joyful and interesting life, raising the family she was so proud of. They were married in Syracuse, NY after Vince’s return from WWII. Bobbie was born in 1918 in Hutchinson, KS, one of four daughters of Don Orel Yeoman and Helen “Corky” Stewart Yeoman. Her father was one of America’s first chemical engineers, employed by the Solvay Process Company, so the family moved to places where salt was abundant, first Amherstburg in Ontario, then Solvay, NY outside of Syracuse. She attended college at Harcum Junior College in Bryn Mawr, and Syracuse University. Before the war, she was a fashion model appearing in Life magazine and hundreds of pages of Montgomery Ward catalogs. She also was a designer of women’s sport clothing in NYC, creating for Obermeyer and other houses. She has clothing in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She also decided to learn to fly during the war, obtaining her pilot’s license in Phoenix, AZ. After Vince returned from the war, they were married in Syracuse. In 1953, Vince’s job with Sun Oil moved them to Philadelphia, where they took up residence on Pennington Road in Paoli. There they raised two children, Don Leopold and Mary Stewart. Bobbie gave up fashion design, but never her love of sewing and art. She made her own clothes, and those of her kids, and her doll clothes are still in toy boxes around the country. She loved to cook, garden, and paint, an accomplished watercolorist. Later in her life, along with Vince, they took classes at Immaculata and both became sculptors of local note. Vince’s positions at Sun often involved international travel, with Bobbie often an enthusiastic companion. In 1998, Bobbie and Vince moved to Crosslands, but hardly slowed down, continuing their interests in art and family. The two of them became thespians, Vince the actor, Bobbie the costume designer. They also happily supervised the growth of their family. Vince passed on in 2010. Bobbie’s sister Betty preceded her. Bobbie leaves behind her two other sisters Amy Bartlett and Nancy Thomas, two children and their spouses, Don and Sandy Verdiani and Mary and Niall Doherty, six grandkids (Kristin Rowe, Jennifer Thomas, James Decker, Peter Decker, Liam Doherty and Lani Doherty), and four great grandkids (Serena Rowe, Dylan Rowe, Madison Scout Decker and Daniel Decker), and a large group of nieces, nephews, and second cousins…all of whom will miss her a lot. Services and interment will be private. Arrangements by DellaVecchia, Reilly, Smith & Boyd Funeral Home of West Chester, PA 610.696.1181 www.DellaFH.com