Barbara Schoof was known to her friends as a woman of faith and a prayer warrior with a strong and deep love for God and her family. Barbara passed peacefully on October 12, 2025 at AVOW Hospice in Naples, Fl.
Barbara was born July 22, 1932, the daughter of Evalyn and Charles. Barbara attended the Northampton School For Girls in Northampton, Mass. While there, she became fluent in French and her friends teased her of being “deceivingly innocent.” A shy, quiet girl, she loved her family’s dogs – Scotties and Great Danes – as well as sitting on the floor reading with her father. During World War II, she and her father followed the skirmishes on a huge wall map where her father would place pins on the map to signify the war’s movements. In 1941, the War Department asked for blond female hair; Barbara donated her long, strawberry blond hair to the war effort.
Barbara attended Bethany College, where she met her future husband, Robert Schoof. They married in the Hamptons, Long Island on June 29, 1951. One year later, Barbara worked in a bank and when her pregnancy began to show, she was fired but her patient spirit was rewarded when their son Steven was born on December 14, 1952. To save money while Bob finished college, they moved to Verona, NJ to live with his parents. Eventually, they moved to Arbutus, MD and bought a home. Early on one Christmas Day in 1955, Barb and Bob woke Steve and her parents to have a brief Christmas, then off to the hospital, where Barb said that she was always grateful for the “lovely Jewish doctor” who delivered their daughter Jill. When Jill was 5 and Steve 8 years old, Barb and Bob became Christians and decided to move to Roslyn, PA so that Bob could attend Westminster Theological Seminary. Following his graduation, they moved the family to various East Coast locations as Bob was a minister and church planter. On May 18, 1968, Barb and Bob were blessed to have their second son Andrew, who later in life gave them the pure joy, laughter and love of grandchildren. During Barbara’s time of raising children and being a minister’s wife, she played the church organ and piano. As a trained classical pianist, she was asked to go on tour, but declined because of her desire to be close to family. She was also routinely recruited to “try out” her father’s inventions when he worked for Squibb and Becton-Dickerson; Barb was so proud of his most famous invention, the disposable syringe. On long car rides, Bob and Barb always had an ongoing “friendly argument” on the date of his invention, 1953 or 1955? It turned out that they were both correct! – her father invented the disposable syringe in 1953, but the patent didn’t come through until 1955. In any case, the discussion always stopped when Barb said, “Well, I should know, he was my father!” A “friendly teasing” between Barb and Bob always happened at Christmas time – did the spinning ornament move because of light or heat from the tree lights?
Barb and her husband so enjoyed doing projects together, designing ponds and gardens and of course, moving furniture and walls! Their projects came to an abrupt halt when Bob passed away peacefully on September 16, 2010. After being married for nearly 60 years, nothing has been the same for Barb, she loved her husband and being his wife was one of her true joys in life.
In 2013, Barbara moved with her family to Marco Island. She was a member of Marco Presbyterian Church, where her older son is a pastor. During her time on Marco Island, she looked forward to attending weekly Bible studies, going to the library, walking to Publix and especially spending quality time with her family.
Barbara is predeceased by her parents and her husband Robert. She leaves behind her son Steven (Beth), daughter Jill, son Andrew (Rhonda) and grandchildren Haley and Trenton. Although her family will miss her kind words, gentle spirit and beautiful smile, they know that she is happy seeing her Heavenly family and being cradled in the arms of her Lord Jesus.
A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, October 22 at 1 p.m. at Marco Presbyterian Church. Attire casual and respectful. Donations may be made in Barbara’s name to Marco Presbyterian Church, 875 W. Elkcam Circle, Marco Island, Fl 34145. In honor of Barbara’s love of spiritual music, donations will go toward the purchase of new ‘Sing’ hymnals.