Barbara Shipnuck

1942 - 2022

Barbara Shipnuck
August 6, 1942 - January 6, 2022
Long Beach, CA
A quintessential American life came to an end on January 6th when Barbara Shipnuck died in Long Beach, CA, at age 79. This little girl from Brooklyn became a history-making politician but Barbara will be remembered by those who knew her as a spirited friend, adventuresome travel companion, loving Mom and doting Bubbie to her four grandkids.
Barbara grew up in the Bensonhurst neighborhood back when Brooklyn was the ultimate melting pot. Her parents Martin and Sonia Feuerman were first-generation immigrants from Eastern Europe; Martin was particularly proud to be an American and often engaged Barbara in discussions about politics and her civic duty. Martin was a furrier but died of cancer when Barbara was 15 and her sister Diana was 10; Sonia would spend the next half-century in a cramped apartment on Bay Parkway lamenting that if only her husband had lived a few years longer they would have been residing on Park Avenue.
Barbara was a star student at Lafayette High School. She earned a scholarship to Brandeis University where she was a decorated debate champion and took a history degree, with honors. She then received a Master's from Harvard University. In 1964, Barbara began teaching history at Columbia Preparatory School in New York City.
She spent the summer of '66 exploring San Francisco. Her tour guide, arranged by a mutual friend, was David Shipnuck, who had been raised in the California wine country and as an undergrad at Cal was part of the nascent Berkeley Free Speech Movement. At summer's end, Dave left to tramp across Europe for 15 months, living on the money he saved from a two-year stint in the Army. He and Barbara kept in touch. In the summer of '67, she hopped on a plane to rendezvous with Dave in Paris, the most capricious act of her life. Two months later, when in Rome, they were engaged to be married.
In 1968, Dave took a job teaching economics at Hartnell College and the newlyweds settled in Salinas, CA. Barbara began teaching social studies at North Salinas High. After daughter Louisa and son Alan were born she became active in local politics, taking a leadership position with the League of Women Voters while pursuing postgraduate studies at the Monterey College of Law. In 1978, at the age of 36, Barbara decided to run for Monterey County supervisor against an entrenched incumbent who had a war chest funded by big business interests. Her campaign was run out of the family home on Fairfax Drive and fueled by idealism and passion; Barbara once bragged she went through five pairs of shoes knocking on doors during the 10-month campaign. She won the election in what the Salinas Californian called the "political upset of the year," becoming the first woman elected to the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. She would be reelected three times, devoting 16 years to core issues of health care, childhood education and eldercare. She moved easily among her sparkly constituents in Pebble Beach and Carmel but was most fulfilled advocating for working-class families in Salinas. Barbara developed a national profile as the president of the California State Association of Counties and a member of the board of directors of the National Association of Counties. In 1990 she was named "Public Official of the Year" by the California Aging Network and three years later recognized as "County Leader of the Year" by American City and County, a national magazine dedicated to local governance.
In 1996, she became Maryland's Deputy Secretary for Health Care Policy, allowing her to be closer to her kids, who were then living on the East Coast. (As all of her friends know, Barbara loved to visit—and talk about!— her kids; Louisa would go on to become a senior vice president at the Disney Corporation while Alan is a sportswriter who this year will publish his seventh and eighth books.) Barbara later served as director of public affairs for Kaiser Permanente.
In retirement, Barbara indulged her wanderlust and intellectual curiosity by traveling far and wide, from Iran to Uzbekistan to Namibia to Bhutan to Patagonia. She began a yearly tradition of taking each grandchild on a far-flung adventure; forevermore they will think of her when visiting Paris, London, Florence, New York City and many other places. Barbara had a refined eye for art and handmade crafts and over time her condo in Signal Hill, CA began to look like a natural history museum.
Barbara remained vital and active until the very end. After she suffered a stroke on New Year's Eve, Louisa and Alan rushed to Long Beach to comfort her. Even from her hospital bed, Barbara remained engaged in her duties as the president of the local chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women. But she also seemed unusually peaceful and reflective, enjoying many warm and loving conversations with family and friends. On January 6th, Louisa had a long visit with her Mom. Moments after she departed, Barbara's heart stopped beating. Those who knew this indomitable woman will not be surprised that she engineered her own peaceful exit.
Barbara is survived by Louisa and her husband Brian Jones; Alan and his children Olivia, Abigail, Michayla, and Benjamin and their mother Frances; Diana Horowitz and her husband Sheldon and their children Mathew and Michele. Donations in her honor may be made to the Barbara Shipnuck Memorial Fund for Tikkun Olam at https://ncjwlongbeach.org/tributes.


View the online memorial for Barbara Shipnuck