Barbara Reisner Gardiner

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Dr. Barbara Gardiner, on Saturday, March 11 at her home in Boca Raton, Florida, after a long struggle with the effects of a traumatic brain injury. She was cared for lovingly by her devoted aides, Jackie Lundgren and Jackie Mayers.

She was born Barbara Joan Kopman in 1940 in Brooklyn, NY, the first child of Solomon and Sylvia Kopman. Ever independent and fierce, she was the first woman in her family to complete college, graduating from Cornell University in 1962 from the School of Human Ecology. That same year she married Robert Reich, with whom she had her only child, Jacqueline Reich; they divorced in 1970. A licensed social worker, she also taught elementary school in Harlem and later went back to complete her Ph.D. in School Psychology at Fordham University's Graduate School of Education in 1982. She developed a successful private practice in Scarsdale, New York and New York City for many years, and, with Jane Aaron, co-authored several children's books about how to deal with emotions. In 1985 she married Leo Reisner, who pre-deceased her in 2012. Much of her later years were spent traveling between New York, the Hamptons, and Boca Raton and spending time with her family, whom she adored. Brilliant and curious, she was an avid reader of the New York Times, novels, and memoirs; a sly card player; and a passionate listener of classical music. She is survived by her daughter Dr. Jacqueline Reich and her husband Michael Zipper; her grandsons Sean de Ganon and Timothy de Ganon; her sister Elaine Glickman and her husband Lawrence Glickman along with her niece Allison Glickman Sundel and her family Gregory, Julia and Samantha; her stepson Hunter Reisner and his wife Deborah Reisner; her stepsons Ross Reisner (deceased), Bradford Reisner and Ian Reisner; and her granddaughters Heather Reisner and Sage Reisner, as well as her beloved mini-poodle Rusty.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to the Kopman Family Fund at Fordham Prep in support of Interfaith Dialogue through campus ministry.

https://www.fordhamprep.org/giving/memoriam/kopman-family-fund