Barbara Bertha Tucker

Barbara Tucker lived her life with extraordinary style and grace before passing away peacefully in Great Neck, New York on August 24, 2024.

During her 87 years, Barbara was known by many names including "Bertha," and, to her family, "Birdy." She also lived many lives, rubbing shoulders with an array of incredible characters and building an extraordinary network of people who considered themselves her unofficial family.

The daughter of Morris Tuchmintz and Sarah Klein, Barbara was a true New Yorker. She was born in The Bronx and grew up there when it was home to grand boulevards and sharp dressers. Throughout her life, Barbara embodied the glamour of that bygone era with her signature auburn hair and red lipstick. She kept working in The Bronx for years and, even as it became a much rougher place, Barbara matched it with her own toughness and wisdom. She went on to live in Queens before ultimately settling on Long Island.

Along the way, Barbara drew people to her with infectious joy and unmatched wit. Most importantly, she was a boundless source of love who built memories with countless friends and loved ones while graciously sharing her strong values and "street sense."

This unique multi-generational circle surrounded her in her final days including at a party on her birthday, August 9th. After that one last fabulous event, Barbara decided it was time to go and left us just as she always lived, on her own terms.

In addition to her parents, Barbara was pre-deceased by her uncle, Harry Klein, and her aunts, Clara Greenwald, Mary Klein, and Rose Staniloff, as well as her first cousins, Herbie Greenwald, Richard Greenwald, and Julie Klein. She was survived by her cousins, Leonard "Butch" Klein and Sandy Daly; by their children, Gabriel Klein, Andrew Klein, Sarah Daly, and Steven Daly; by her second cousins, Barbara Issak, Cheryl Handelman, Debbie Klein, Myra Klein; and by many other family members.

Though she technically had no children, Barbara also had a family of her own making with many people who viewed her as a mother, grandmother, and treasured friend, including Kathryn and Mitch Feldman, Eric Feldman, Andrew Feldman and his fiancée, Lauren Abrams, Steven and Lisa Aliperta, their daughter, Sarah, who was named for Barbara, Martha Walker and Jane Carlin, Hunter and Gloria Walker, Marilyn and Alex McCracken, Rituparna Mukherjee, Richard and Nicole Dana, Frank Fea, Janice Sotero, Ellen Schuchman Korins, Victor Fuentes, and others.

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