Barbara Whitaker

My mom lived a wonderful life of 92 years! Barbara Mary Moore was the second of four children born to Robert J. Moore and Angela Decker Moore.
During mom's childhood, her family lived for a few years on a farm in New Berlin that she spoke of her entire life. It must have been truly magical because her siblings too, spoke fondly of their time there and took every opportunity in their adulthood to bring their kids to visit and photograph the house, barns, and bucolic fields. The wholeness of her family at that time made an indelible mark on their lives.
Mom attended Utica Catholic Academy and went on to St. Elizabeth's School of Nursing. She took her nursing skills to Providence, RI and worked at Rhode Island Hospital and Roger Williams Hospital. Mom married dad, James S. Whitaker, who was stationed nearby serving in the Navy. They married at the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul in Providence in 1953. And, though he passed away in 1998, her heart belonged to him until she passed away on Friday, December 5, 2025.
My mom was a person who ""got it done."" Mom and Dad had four children and mom tended to every task necessary (and not necessary) to keep us happy, healthy, and productive people. Dad, always success oriented, relocated the family often, and mom handled every detail. As a matter of fact, mom handled every detail of everything that happened in a busy household of six active vivacious humans and usually a smelly, rotten dog. And, she did it all so beautifully and calmly. She never complained and we never said ""thanks.""
My mom loved to travel. Mom and Dad crisscrossed the US four times using every major route. Mom made it to all 50 states, completing the final one with her pal Chris Kisiel. She traveled to many European countries including Monaco, Ireland (mom was very proud of her Irish heritage), Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, England, and Malta.
Mom loved her faith and felt that being a Catholic was an essential part of her life. Her faith ""righted"" her when she lost her daughter, Eileen, in 2006. She loved St. John the Evangelist Church in New Hartford. She participated in many church functions and was a member of a weekly Bible study. This beautiful group of folks embraced her like family and supported her until the end.
And finally, my mom loved to read. It was a life-long passion. Mom was a keen observer of life and always followed the news. She voted in every election and held fast to her strong political views. She exercised on her treadmill into her nineties because she loved ice cream and anything chocolate. Mom truly lived a wonderful, long life filled with family, friends, love, and laughter.
Mom is survived by her sons, Robert and wife, Cindy, Thomas and wife, Andrea; and daughter, Julie and husband, Gordon. She is survived by her sisters-in-law, Maureen Moore and Ludmilla Moore; and by her grandchildren (and partners), Jessica Klucka (Chris) and Colleen Belair (Ryan), Danielle Buma (Josh) and Ashley Whitaker, Dale Hammer (Liz), and Marykate Hammer, and Bridget Hotaling. She is also survived by her great-grandchildren, Logan and Molly Klucka, Mackenzie Belair, River Buma, and Maisie and Whitaker Hammer. She was predeceased by her brothers, Terence C. Moore and Dr. John R. Moore; and by her sister, Maureen Dooley.
The funeral will be Wednesday at 10 a.m. at St. John the Evangelist Church where a Funeral Mass will be celebrated. Inter will be in Townsend Cemetery, Stittville in the spring. Calling hours will be on Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Friedel, Williams & Edmunds Funeral and Cremation Services, 13 Oxford Rd., New Hartford.
For online expressions of sympathy go to fwefh.com.