Barbara Diane Lebenberg

barbara  lebenberg
Barbara Diane Lebenberg (Barb)

Barb was born in Akron, Ohio, and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Academy High School in Erie and attended University of Cincinnati. After spending several years in the Cleveland area, she moved to Northern Virginia to be closer to her sister, Susan. She was a Fairfax resident for 30 years.

Barb was a legal secretary and worked for some of the top law firms in Cleveland, Ohio, and Washington, DC, including Baker & Hostetler and Arendt Fox. She took pride in her work and the friendships she had in the office, often bringing in homemade birthday cakes and baked goods for her coworkers.

When she lived in Cleveland, Barb was active in a ski club; with them, she traveled throughout Europe. Though she wasn't as active a skiier by the time she moved to Virginia, she still traveled on occasion with Susan. She particularly appreciated a trip they took to South Korea. Barb also traveled with her younger sister, Nancy. Their last trip together was to Nashville and Memphis. (Barb greatly enjoyed modern and pop country.)

Barb lived with metastatic breast cancer for numerous years, beating the initial cancer for a while before it eventually returned. Her focus on living as long and full a life as possible despite the disease is what led her to Life with Cancer, an Inova program that was the center of much of her social life. Almost until the end, when the pain became too great to move freely, Barb was active in her Life with Cancer classes, including yoga, painting, collage work, and nutrition lectures. She was also an avid reader.

Barb's other (and probably greater) focus was on her family. She was generous with her time and her guest room. She always remembered birthdays, and in the last year of her life, when it was too hard for her to get to the store with regularity, she would apologize repeatedly and effusively for not sending out some birthday card or another. Her travel plans almost entirely revolved around maintaining her close ties with her family members. She took the occasional road trip to see her aunt in Cleveland, her cousins in Pittsburgh, or her niece in Michigan, and frequently flew to Florida and California to visit various family members.

Adults may have occasionally (or in some cases, frequently) been treated to Barb's sharp and stubborn sides, but *Aunt* Barbara was always the favorite among kids because she made time for them, didn't talk down to them, and really paid attention to them.



Barb is survived by her sister, Nancy Pace; her nieces, Brej Gruskin, (kira pace), and Jori Sussman; her nephew, Micah Pace; her grand-nieces and -nephews Avery and Ayla Asner, Levi and Andrew Sussman, and Presley Pace; and her aunt, Sarah Felder—all of whom love her and miss her terribly.

Donations may be made to Life with Cancer. [https://www.lifewithcancer.org/get-involved/ways-to-donate/]

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