Barbara B. Erdoğan, 87, passed away peacefully at her home at Kirkland Village in Bethlehem on Oct. 9, 2017.
She was the wife of the late Prof. Fazıl Erdoğan of Lehigh University. Barbara was born in Norwell, Mass., on July 12, 1930 to the late Malcolm and Constance (Bailey) Blake. When her father took a job at Bethlehem Steel Corp. her family moved to Bethlehem and she attended Liberty High School. She then studied at no fewer than a half dozen colleges and universities, specializing in various disciplines of art. Before returning to Bethlehem and meeting Fazıl, she was a professional fashion illustrator in New York and Boston.
Barbara became a very active member of First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem after making a decision to follow Christ in 1978. There she led and participated in numerous small groups and ministries. She was especially gifted as a Stephen Minister, taking care of people in need. Barbara was a passionate leader for many years of Bible Study Fellowship core groups. She loved Lehigh University and supported its students, faculty and their families in many ways, including participation in the Lehigh Women’s Club and by teaching English to foreign students and families. She was also active in a number of different community organizations, particularly those that support the elderly, such as Meals on Wheels and volunteer hospice care.
Barbara also treasured drawing, painting, pottery, gourmet cooking, hosting dinner parties and picnics, gardening, traveling, hiking, reading, spending time with her children, grandchildren and friends, and sharing her incredible faith in Jesus Christ with anyone she could.
SURVIVORS
She is survived by her daughter Ann Tracy, wife of David Tracy, of Basel, Switzerland, and their four children, Nathanael, Emma, Harrison and Semra, and her son Turan Erdoğan, husband of Mary (Cawley), of Kingston, Mass., and their four children, Michal, Malcolm, Remziye and Samuel. Barbara is also survived by her sister, Patricia Stimson, of Norwell, Mass., and was predeceased by her brother, James Blake.
SERVICES
Family and friends and even those who just knew of Barbara are invited to attend her Memorial Service at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 27, 2017 at First Presbyterian Church, 2344 Center St., Bethlehem. The service will be followed by a celebration reception in the Fellowship Hall at the Church. All are welcome. There will be no calling hours. Online expressions of sympathy can be recorded at www.heintzelmancares.com. Arrangements are by the Heintzelman Funeral Home Inc. of Hellertown.
CONTRIBUTIONS
In lieu of flowers please make any contributions in her memory to the Scleroderma Foundation, 300 Rosewood Drive, Suite 105, Danvers, MA 01923 (www.scleroderma.org).
