September 18th, 2024, Barbara (Bobbie) Schmidt (nee Reeves) Age 77, of Haddonfield, NJ, passed away peacefully from the effects of Lung Cancer. She was a beloved Wife, Mother, Aunt, Nana, and Friend to Many. She is survived by her husband of 54 years, Alfred, her daughter Kirstin Berger (Steven), her son Keith (Suzanne), and her grandchildren Katie, Kristi, Karl, Max, and Ellie.

Bobbie graduated from Haddon Heights High School and went to work in the furniture department at Wannamaker's and following that she joined IBM in Center City where she started as a receptionist and worked up to managing equipment orders from data centers for large corporations. Bobbie and Al met at IBM and started their life together, trying different foods and traveling to novel places, including a motorcycle tour of the southwest canyonlands. As a city woman she used public transit. After marriage she learned how to drive. Her first vehicle was a motorcycle then graduated to a VW beetle.

She had a rich and rewarding life enjoying her children and grandchildren, traveling, art, architecture, decorating, gardening, fashion, helping others and cooking. As her family moved, she remained centered on her family and her new church and community. She always joined the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) and became an integral part of the humanitarian activities of the local organization. She taught English as a second language to refugees of the Vietnam war who had been relocated to Rochester, MN. She worked Welcome tables to help newcomers settle and prosper in each new location. She combined her love of gardening with this effort and liked to use the analogy of helping those who were new to their new location to "Bloom where they were planted."

When she was in her teens, she made her own clothes and that carried her into her love of fashion. Her life in Paris, France introduced her, firsthand, to different ways to think about fashion. As president of the ECW (Junior Guild) of the American Cathedral in Paris, she enjoyed attending Receptions at the Embassy and coordinating the annual 'Rummage Sale' of fashionable clothing in support of undocumented refugees in Paris. She was also able to take advantage of opportunities to meet avant-garde artists in the Montmartre area. She focused on learning the French Culture and Couture first and the language second. She also enjoyed chaperoning the Church Youth Group on trips to the Netherlands and the UK. When time permitted, she was able to take classes at the Cordon Blu school to improve her cooking skills.

While back in the States, in Ridgefield, CT she did part-time work in the Tax Office and the Local Bank to keep her accounting skills tuned. She also had time to coach a girls softball team and teach Sunday School. As part of the ECW there, she worked on the annual Nutmeg Festival at St. Stephen's church to raise money in support of their outreach programs. She also enjoyed coordinating a "Dinner for 8 Program" for church members to get to know each other better and to make interesting and challenging meals.

Upon moving to Haddonfield, she worked in the Barrington Tax Office and in the polling centers during elections. As a member of Grace Church in Haddonfield, she became the ECW (also known as St. Anne's) treasurer worked their semiannual Rummage Sales, initiated a Soup for Syria fundraiser, then for Ukraine, to raise money for Refugees through the UN High Commission for Refugees. She also helped start a Welcome Table and a Dinner for 8 Program to help new and existing members get to know each other better. She also loved to cook special meals for dinners with friends and was famous for her homemade ice cream parties, key lime pie donations for auction and giving out Christmas presents of candied pecans.

In analyzing the range of goods donated for the rummage sales, she helped to establish a "Boutique Room" to sell the "Best of the Best" at higher prices and increase the income for the ECW outreach programs. While at Grace Church, she also volunteered for the Project Interaction Sunday Breakfast Program at St. Paul's Church in Camden to feed the homeless.

In Haddonfield, Bobbie became an active member of the Haddonfield Garden Club and managed the team that planted and decorated the Urns on Kings Highway each Spring and Fall. Part of the effort was choosing the plants, designing the layout for each urn, working with the nursery to get the plants, organizing the delivery of the plants, building the instruction packets for each urn owner, and providing a pickup location for the packets and plants.

A memorial service in celebration of Bobbie's life will be at Grace Church in Haddonfield on October 12. Visitation will start at 10 AM. The Memorial Service will start at 11 AM. There will be a reception following the service in the Church Parish Hall. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society , Grace Church in Haddonfield , or Delaware Valley Alzheimer's Association .