Barbara "Bobby" Jorgensen

Barbara
'Bobby' (née Errickson) Jorgensen passed away peacefully in her sleep on June
15th after a lengthy battle with dementia. Her loving family was by
her side at the end.
Born
May 6, 1933, Bobby grew up in Freehold, New Jersey where her father was a prominent
local dentist and civic leader. A bright student, her greatest source of pride
was her twelve-year perfect attendance record at First Presbyterian Church Sunday
School. Bobby attended Trenton State Teachers College-now The College of New
Jersey-where she majored in early childhood education. It was while a freshman at
Trenton State that she met her future husband, Robert 'Bob' Jorgensen, whom she
would marry in the spring of 1954, their senior year. Thereafter, and for 70 more
years, they were simply 'Bob and Bobby.'
With
Bob's commissioning upon graduation as a Second Lieutenant in the US Marine
Corps, the newlywed couple headed straight off to Marine Corps Base Quantico in
Virginia for their first posting. For Bobby, after just three days of teaching
at a local school, she knew immediately that teaching was decidedly not her
calling. Instead, she focused on making a new home of their own. Their first of
two children was born in 1956, shortly before the end of Bob's military service
commitment. That spring, the young family moved to Westwood, Massachusetts
where Bob took up a teaching appointment at Roxbury Latin School in West
Roxbury-a position he would retire from 40 years later.
Bobby
was both a traditional homemaker and a thoroughly modern woman in the world of
America's post-war '50s. She was a renowned baker, sewist, and knitter. A
talented singer and dancer, she and Bob were mainstays of the First Parish of
Westwood Couples Club annual musicals. When her son and daughter were settled
in grade school, she began the first of a number of jobs that took full
advantage of her considerable technical and administrative skills. For many
years, she was a dental technician at Westwood Research Laboratories. After
both children were off at college, she took on the role of Executive Secretary
of the Star Island Corporation-the owner and operator of Star Island, a rustic
conference center off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire-commuting daily to
downtown Boston.
Travel
was the one constant in Bobby's life. Childhood summers centered around her grandfather's
beach cottage in Seaside Park, New Jersey. Throughout her married life, summers
included a week on Star Island at one of their Unitarian Universalist family
conferences. In the summer of 1968, she organized a family camping trip across
the United States. In their 1962 Buick Invicta station wagon towing a Coleman
pop-up camper, they visited family and college and Marine Corps friends while
stopping at iconic sites across the country. Her wanderlust took her to all 50
states and numerous countries around the world, including a solo trip to New
Zealand when she was in her 70s.
In
2017, she and Bob left their Westwood home of 60 years for the comfort of
independent living at One Wingate Way in Needham Heights. There they made many
new friends while remaining close to longtime friends and neighbors. In 2022,
Bobby moved into the memory care wing at Wingate, just a short walk down the
hall from Bob, allowing him to visit her several times a day.
Bobby
was blessed with a close and loving family, including her husband of 70 years,
Bob; son Dean and daughter-in-law Aileen of Canton, Georgia; daughter Kyle and
son-in-law Mark of Dover, New Hampshire; three grandchildren, Christopher,
William, and Hillary; and six great grandchildren, Piper, Brendan, Tyler,
Norah, Ira, and Harlow. The family is especially grateful to the staff of
Wingate Residences of Needham, Compassionate Care Hospice of Woburn, and KRS
Senior Care Services of Wayland for making her final months and weeks as
comfortable and calm as they were.
Arrangements
are being made by Folsom Funeral Service of Westwood. The family will hold a
Celebration of Life in the fall.
Tribute
gifts in honor of Bobby may be made to Star Island Corporation, 30 Middle
Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801, or Compassionate Care Hospice, 800 W Cummings
Park Suite 3100, Woburn, MA 01801.