Shirley Jean Barish

BARISH: Shirley Jean Barish passed away peacefully at home on Friday, March 29, 2024, at age 100. She was surrounded by her three children and son-in-law. Shirley was the beloved wife of the late Stanley S. Barish and the daughter of Morris and Malvina Chotiner. She was the loving mother of Nancy Moeller (Thomas Moeller), Richard Barish and Steven Barish. She also leaves behind her dear brother Gerald Chotiner (Barbara), her “favorite” grandson Michael Moeller (Indra), and her two great-grandsons, Ashton and Anthony, whom she greatly enjoyed. She also held dear her nieces, nephew, and cousins and their families. Her brother, Stanley Chotiner, and his wife, Audrey, preceded her in death. Shirley was born in Pittsburgh and attended Allderdice High School. She completed one year at Carnegie Tech (Carnegie Mellon), studying interior design, until World War II interrupted her studies. Shirley married Stan in 1943, a marriage that lasted 79 years until Stan’s death in 2022. Her husband thought she was as smart as she was lovely. Her many friends considered her a maven in various subjects. She was an avid reader of fiction and kept a dictionary close by. She wanted to be up to date on what was going on in the world, even in her 100th year of life. Shirley loved playing bridge. She would have weekly bridge games with her friends and was a faithful reader of the bridge columns in the paper. She attended to all the household finances and helped with bookkeeping at Stanley’s camera store, The Fotoshop. She was an excellent cook, searching cookbooks and magazines to find good recipes. She loved to host family holiday dinners, summer cookouts on the patio, and birthday parties for her children, as well as occasional parties for her friends. Along with her family, Shirley’s friends were important to her. She and Stan would unfailingly get together with them for weekly dinners out. She was also a talented seamstress who could create both practical items as well as custom decorative accessories for her home. In her later years she became knowledgeable at using the computer. Shirley was a good conversationalist, who made you feel special when she talked with you. Shirley was fortunate to travel to many places around the world with Stan, including Caribbean islands, Spain, the Canary Islands, Hawaii and Japan. One of their travel adventures involved the whole family and their friend’s family living on a houseboat cruising down the Allegheny River. They also took a road trip across the country through the Carolinas, New Orleans and out West. When they took up sailing, she enjoyed their long weekend trips to Erie to sail on the lake, often inviting family and friends to come up to their boat. Shirley will be dearly missed by her family and friends. Services at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., 5509 Centre Avenue, Shadyside on Thursday, April 4, 2024, at 11 a.m. Visitation one hour prior to service (10-11 a.m.). Interment Private. Contributions may be made in Shirley’s honor to Carnegie Library (carnegielibrary.org/give) where she liked to browse the shelves, find new books and check out videos, or to WQED (donate.wqed.org/wqed/donate) that presented the cooking shows she enjoyed. schugar.com PJC