Barbara Ellen Wendling

Barbara Ellen Wendling, an automotive wizard who broke into a male-dominated field as a car mechanic and later became an expert in automated vehicle technology, died on June 13 in Ann Arbor. She was 64.
Barb was born in Detroit to the late Dr. Dieter and Monica Wendling. After growing up in Royal Oak and attending Kimball High School, she enrolled at the University of Michigan and the University of California at Berkeley, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy of Law (she would later make use of this degree by letting herself be coerced into writing her daughter's college philosophy papers).
Barb began her automotive career as a gas station mechanic in Lansing, MI and a bus mechanic in Campbell, CA, where she worked during her last year at Berkeley. She moved to Kragujevac, Yugoslavia (now Serbia) in 1986, working as a supervisor in regulatory affairs for Yugo America. She became quickly fluent in Serbo-Croatian, and-pre-online translation tools-wrote many of her daily memos in Serbo-Croatian and English for her Yugoslavian and American engineering colleagues. At Yugo, Barb also met her future husband, Aleksandar (Saša) Malušev. After returning to the States, they had one daughter, Tanya, named after Barb's next older sister. Barb and Saša subsequently divorced but maintained an amicable relationship.
Over the years, Barb became widely respected in the auto industry, working many years as a manager for AAMA and in safety and regulatory policy for Daimler-Chrysler, Mercedes R&D, and Volkswagen before taking a position as a consultant for EY-Parthenon. She was a recognized expert in accessibility, safety, and automated vehicles. Barb served as chair of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) for many years and was noted as a top contributor in 2021. Her colleagues considered her a friend, mentor, and a role model for women working in the automotive industry.
Extraordinarily kind, generous, and witty, Barb used her extensive mechanical knowledge by helping everyone she knew -and often even people she didn't-with even the smallest of fixes, no matter how far she had to drive or how out of her way she had to go. Barb was a committed vegetarian from the age of 15, and also loved to cook and deliver healthy meals to friends and people in her community, again regardless of the time or driving distance.
When not working or helping someone, Barb loved books, funny and odd collectibles, animals (especially cats and local wildlife), and nature. She was known for finding the most unique Christmas stocking stuffers and the most genuinely entertaining animal videos on YouTube. She was happiest in her leafy neighborhood, feeding the many wild critters who queued up to her front porch to munch on the nuts, seeds, and other delicacies she bought for them.
Beyond Barb's professional accomplishments and personal kindnesses, the most important role in Barb's life was being a kind, patient, funny, and loving mother to her daughter Tanya, who she raised as a single mother. Barb did this so successfully that Tanya, at the unlikely age of 18, told Barb and anyone else who would listen that she owed all of her good qualities to her mother and that her mom was her "favorite person and her best friend and always will be," which Tanya still stands by.
Barb is survived by her daughter, Tanya Malušev; her stepdaughters, Ana and Ivana Malušev; her siblings, Ted (Margaret), Karen (Elaine), and Tanya (Joan) Wendling; her half- and step-siblings Pete (Anne) Wendling, JP (Vanessa) and Andre (Suzanne) Rachmaninoff; her many other loving nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends; her very high-maintenance cat, Zoey; and her equally demanding generator (Kohler).
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in Barb's memory be made to the following local organizations online or in mail: Friends of Wildlife
PO Box 1505
Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Mercy for Animals
1150 Conrad Court
Hagerstown, MD 21740-5905
323-822-5124 Food Gatherers
1 Carrot Way
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
734-761-2796
A memorial service will be held in the late fall; this page will be updated with details and additions to the photo gallery.