Barbara Nieberding

1942 - 2023

Barbara Redmond Nieberding, 81, of Ellicott City passed away peacefully surrounded by family and friends on December 23, 2023 after a long battle with myelodysplasia. She had been married to the late Michael William Nieberding for 30 years. Barbs was born on August 19, 1942 in Baltimore, Maryland, the first child of the late Joyce Anne and John Augustin Redmond, II. She grew up in the western suburbs of Baltimore, primarily in the Catonsville area. She attended The Crosby School, Catonsville Elementary, Catonsville Junior High, and Catonsville Senior High where she was editor-in-chief of the yearbook. After high school she attended William Smith College in Geneva, New York graduating with a Bachelor's of Arts degree in psychology. After graduation she pursued her first love – the teaching and nurturing of young children. She taught in Prince Georges County and later in Howard County and New Jersey. She was chosen as Outstanding Elementary Teacher of the Year for Howard County in 1968, and earned a Master's in education from Johns Hopkins in 1972. She taught at West Friendship Elementary and later Northfield Elementary where she met her husband, Mike. She was impressed when he came to the school to gather his sons' homework assignments. They were married in June of 1974. After living in Maryland for many years, Barbs and Mike moved to Flemington, New Jersey due to Mike's job change. There they became renowned for entertaining family and friends with wonderful dinners and cool dips in their swimming pool. They bought a sailboat, the "Perseverance", and enjoyed taking relatives down the Chesapeake Bay from the Sassafras River to Annapolis. In Flemington Barbs taught elementary school at one of the local school districts. Later she became active in the Flemington Area Food Pantry eventually becoming president. She became a Certified Master Gardener, conducting many classes on horticulture for young and old alike. While doing all this she took on the role of caregiver to her great uncle, Karol Filip and to her mother Joyce. After Mike passed away, Barbs returned to Maryland and renewed her teaching career, teaching several years at Glenelg Country School. Finally, Barbs decided to take on a well-deserved retirement and enjoy her friends at the Enclave at Ellicott Hills condominium. Birthday parties and canasta games were plentiful with Barbs supplying delicious desserts. Friends included Jane Hoffmann, Bonnie Beall, Susan Mohr, Charles Greisacker, and many others Barbs is survived by her stepsons, Michael J. Nieberding and his wife Cathy of Baltimore, Thomas C. Nieberding and his wife Linda Julien of Gladstone, NJ, her brother John A. Redmond III and his wife Kathryn Jean of Sykesville, former daughters-in-law Linda Nieberding and Angela Krum. Also surviving are grandchildren Conrad Nieberding and wife Vy, Jillian Whiting and husband Kevin, Hannah Nieberding and partner Donavin Williams, Erich Nieberding and wife Nicolette, and Matthew Nieberding and wife Sarah. She is survived by three great-grandchildren, many loving nieces and nephews, and other family and friends including those in Colorado, Massachusetts, and Delaware. Her funeral service will be held on Saturday, February 10th, 11:00, at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, 13135 Forsythe Rd., Sykesville, MD with the Rev Timothy H. Grayson officiating. A reception at St. Barnabas Hall will follow. For those who cannot attend, the service will be broadcast live on YouTube. Go to the church website, www.stbarnabassykesville.org and click on the YouTube link. Internment will be later at the Cusack Cemetery in Westcliffe, CO. Memorial contributions may be made to either St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, www.stjude.org, or to the Tree-Mendous Maryland program, https://dnr.maryland.gov/forests/Pages/treemendous.