Barbara Bushman Goodman, 91, passed away on Oct. 10 after suffering a severe stroke in April.
Barbara was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1932 to Esther Fox and William Bushman. Her family moved to Kansas City, Missouri, when Barbara was six years old, to be closer to her maternal grandparents.
She was the first woman in Kansas City to have a bat mitzvah ceremony, and she was also the first Jewish woman in Kansas City to be a member of BOTAR.
She attended University of Missouri at Columbia and after graduation returned to Kansas City to design cards for Hallmark Cards, Inc. She then moved to St. Louis, Missouri, to attend graduate school at Washington University.
Barbara had an insatiable curiosity, and she was curious about everything and anything.
Barbara married and had two children after getting divorced at an early age. Close friends Rosie and S. Lee Kling were very supportive of her. The late S. Lee Kling was a successful local business leader and national leader for the Democratic Party. Kling told Barbara that he had endless projects that she could help him with, and she jumped at the opportunity.
Barbara was involved in doing everything from designing the annual reports for Landmark Banks to helping plan the Democratic National Convention and President Jimmy Carter’s presidential inauguration for Kling.
Kling eventually made Barbara the first woman to be on the board of directors of his Landmark Bankshares Banking Group. Kling also arranged for her to acquire a partnership interest in Altair Travel, which she helped grow until she sold her interest after 30 years.
Barbara also enjoyed serving on the board of directors for many nonprofits such as the Arts and Education Council (St. Louis), St. Louis Public Library, Camp Wyman, COCA — Center for Creative Arts, and several other nonprofit boards over the years.
She was charitable. She couldn’t say no to someone or a cause that needed help.
Barbara is survived by her children, Todd and Jill, and her brother, Stanley Bushman of Kansas City, Missouri.
Her only regret was not staying in touch with old friends as much as she would have liked to, as she had not been feeling well the last few years.
The funeral was a private family-only service.
In lieu of flowers or donations, please do something kind for a friend or a stranger.
Visit bergermemorialchapel.com for more information.
