Barbara H. Seidman died State College, Pennsylvania on December 20, 2024 after a short illness.
Barbara was born on September 5, 1943 in Kreuz/Ostbahn, Germany to Oswald Koppe and Edith (Mittelstaedt) Koppe. Her family moved to Berlin in 1945. After childhood in Berlin, Barbara moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she graduated from Ann Arbor High School and studied at the University of Michigan. She received bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in German language and literature.
Barbara taught German at several colleges and universities: Newark State College (now Kean University, NJ), George Mason University, Northern Virginia Community College, Auburn University, and Colorado State University.
Barbara loved cooking, decorating, and gardening. Her passion in recent decades was the creation of beaded jewelry and 3-dimensional beaded pictures.
Barbara married Stephen Seidman in 1969, who survives her, as do their two daughters, Miriam Seidman and Naomi Seidman, Naomi’s husband Jonathan Dexter, and their children Sylvan and Philip. Barbara is also survived by her sister Karin Bach and by two nephews (Oliver Koppe, Daniel Seidman) and three nieces (Regina Duwe, Deborah Stein and Shana Stein). Her brother Bernd Koppe predeceased her in 2022.
Friends are welcome to join the family for Shiva at their home, 723 E. McCormick Ave, on Thursday, December 26, at 5:30 PM.
There will be a memorial service at 2 PM on Sunday, January 12 at Congregation Brit Shalom, 620 E. Hamilton Ave in State College. This service will also be accessible via Zoom; instructions are found at the following link: https://www.britshalomstatecollege.org/worship
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the State College Food Bank at https://scfoodbank.org or to Schlow Library at https://www.schlowlibrary.org
Arrangements are under the care of Koch Funeral Home. Online condolences may be entered at www.kochfuneralhome.com.