Barbara Joan Fossati

Beloved wife of Dr. W. Joseph Fossati, Professor of History at Rockhurst University, elbowed her way into eternity on August 12, 2007. Survivors include her devoted sons, David Michael David and his wife, Kristie, of Kansas City, Missouri and Dann Mitchell David and his wife, Cynthia, and precious grandsons, Thomas, Matthew, and Joseph David of Overland Park, Kansas. Survivors also include three sisters and their families, Jill Truitt and her daughter, Debbie Morrison of Kansas City, Missouri; Mary Jane Truitt-Pearson of Moraga, California, and Muffet Young-Miller of Kansas City, Missouri. Barbara is also survived by her loyal canine companion, Zoe and feline companion, Carmine. Barbara was born on May 13, 1940, in Chanute, Kansas, where she lived until her marriage to Joe on June 1, 1976. They made their new home in Olathe, Kansas until they relocated to Shawnee, Kansas in April, 1998. Barbara graduated from Chanute High School in 1958 and from the University of Kansas in 1961. She began her teaching career in Chanute as a first grade teacher at Alcott Elementary School. She became interested in remedial reading and earned a graduate degree in Reading from the University of Kansas in 1974. She was employed as a reading teacher in Chanute until she earned further certification in the field of learning disabilities. She taught at Royster Junior High School in Chanute and was an itinerate teacher of learning disabilities for Neosho County. After moving to Olathe, she taught in a learning disabilities resource room in Blue Springs, Missouri. She took a sabbatical from teaching in 1977 and earned her real estate salesperson license. She was employed by Cliff Brisbois Real Estate Company and later, Hardin Stockton Real Estate. In 1981, Barbara was hired by the Olathe school district as a reading instructor and she retired from Olathe North High School in 2003 after teaching there 22 years. Barbara served on the executive board of Olathe United Way in the 1970s, worked on the board of the Olathe NAACP, and was a member of the board of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas City and Western Missouri. She was a career member of the Olathe National Education Association and was a building representative for Olathe North, a position in which she took great pride because she could help other teachers. However, the accomplishment of which she was most proud was a community emergency help service that she and her dear friend, Evelyn Gelb of Kansas City, Missouri, organized in the late 1960s in their hometown at the time, Chanute, Kansas. It was well before the emergency telephone service we know as 9-1-1, but it was organized to operate the same way with volunteers who answered an emergency number and provided help. In addition to championing the rights of others, Barbara became an anti-war activist before the invasion of Iraq. She and her dear friend, Joanne McClelland of Wichita, Kansas, traveled many times to Washington, D.C. and New York to participate in major antiwar demonstrations in the spirit of Mohandus Ghandi and Dr. Martin Luther King's non-violent disobedience. Barbara's sister, Jill, also accompanied her in solidarity to anti-war demonstrations. Mass of Christian Burial, family members only. In lieu of flowers, family suggests contributions to Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City, K.U. Medical Center, or Menorah Medical Center. Arrangements are by: Passantino Bros. Funeral Home, (816) 471-2844.