Barbara L. Noden, 80, beloved wife and mother, passed away on Tuesday, March 12, 2018 at Baptist Hospital in Jacksonville.
Barbara was born in Binghamton, N.Y. and moved with her family to Miami, Fla. when she was a teenager.
She was an alumna of the University of Florida, and later a graduate of the baccalaureate physical therapy program at the Medical School of Columbia University in New York. While in New York, she met her husband, Malcolm, and they were married in Miami in 1958.
During her 40-year career as a physical therapist, she was active in the American Physical Therapy Association and filled several physical therapy director positions in various hospitals, including the original Baptist Hospital in Jacksonville and Beth Abraham Hospital in Bronx, N.Y., where she worked with the famous British neurologist and author Oliver Sacks in the development of the new uses of the drug dopamine. In the late 1960s while there, she and Sacks worked with a group of survivors of the 1920s sleeping sickness, encephalitis lethargica, who had been unable to move on their own for decades.
After moving to the Finger Lakes region of New York, she became the director of the PT Department at Auburn Memorial Hospital in Auburn, N.Y. In her later years, she started her own PT practice and was a consultant to many nursing homes and assisted living communities.
She and Malcolm retired to Amelia Island in 2003, and in retirement she took up oil painting and became a member of the Island Art Association, where she displayed her works in several shows at the local gallery.
She also became very involved with various activities in the First Presbyterian Church in Fernandina Beach, including serving a term as an Elder. She served as the historian of the Presbyterian Women’s Association and on the Mission Committee. In the latter committee she became an unflagging supporter of America’s Youth Inc., the local agency serving the educational support and off-street recreational needs of low-income, under-served, and minority children in our community.
She is survived by her husband; daughter, Alexandra (Martin) of Boulder, Colo.; sons, Stephen and Gregory (Evie), both of Poplar Ridge, N.Y.; granddaughters, Leah and Mariah; three grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
Her memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 17, 2018 at First Presbyterian Church of Fernandina Beach with Senior Pastor Wain Wesberry officiating and assisted by Associate Pastor Julie Jensen.
Because of her passionate advocacy for America’s Youth Inc., the family asks that in lieu of flowers donations be made in her name to that agency at 907 S. 11th St., Fernandina Beach, FL 32034.
“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” Psalm 116:15