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Barbara Anne Ferst

April 3,1934 - June 23, 2024

Barbara Anne Ferst passed away in her home in Larkspur, California on Sunday June 23rd, 2024 surrounded by her family and loved ones. Barbara is survived by her five children Kathleen Sell (Paul), Susan Berger (Don), Stephen Ferst, Daniel Ferst (Daphne), David Ferst (Melissa), and her ten grandchildren. She had been battling chronic physical pain from a back operation twenty years earlier. Despite her constant pain, she remained a loyal and caring mother and grandmother – she will be sorely missed.

Barbara, or Bobbie as we endearingly called her, was born in Long Island, New York on April 3, 1934. She attended Hofstra University and immediately began a career with Time and Life Magazine in New York City.

While working for Time and Life she met our father Richard Edward Ferst. This would be the beginning of a sixty-two-year marriage which yielded six children and a fascinating life in six countries—Havana, Cuba; Caracas, Venezuela; Mexico City, Mexico; Los Gatos, California; São Paulo, Brazil; and Toronto, Canada before retiring to Los Gatos in 1985 with Richard. It is safe to say that if two people were meant to be together it would be our parents. Their love was strong and abiding.

Barbara was a loving, happy and devoted wife and mother. She was also an avid tennis player throughout her life, a successful real estate agent, talented bridge player, and an excellent hostess to our father’s overseas business and social engagements. Bobbie was always positive and supportive of our father and her children. When assigned to a foreign post, she quickly immersed herself in the new culture creating a comfortable home for her family where they could feel safe and thrive in their new environment.

While she struggled the last twenty years of her life, she maintained a positive outlook and was there for her five surviving children and ten grandchildren in the best possible way she could. She loved her family and would do anything for them. She will be greatly missed by all of us, and the friends she accumulated in her travels abroad.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to one of her favorite organizations, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation by clicking on the Donate Now button on www.t2t.org and clicking the “Dedicate donation in memory of” box and entering her name. Alternatively, you can email [email protected] in memory of her, or contact the organization at 718-987-1931 to make your donation by phone.

Service and interment will be held in Los Gatos, California where she will be buried next to Richard, her husband, and loyal companion of sixty-two years.