Barbara Berg

Barbara D. Berg, 89, of Ashburn, Virginia, passed away on March 22, 2024. A native of Kansas City, Missouri, she and her late husband W. Robert Berg also enjoyed twenty years’ retirement in Horseshoe Bay, Texas.

Barbara was the third child of William L. “Leonard” and Thelma Anderson. She and her brothers Donald and Clifford lost their father when she was just five and her single mother supported the family. After Barbara graduated from Central High School, she worked as a secretary in the title and trust business and the two working women shared an apartment.

When a CPA named Bob who had a nice smile came to audit the company she worked for, he was not allowed to date their employees. But luckily an old boss hired her away, so the romance got off the ground. They were married in 1956 and raised two daughters.

Barbara was the mother everyone wishes they had—not too lax, not too strict, funny, fun and always, always in your corner. She picked peas out of alphabet soup, hunted down a succession of nearly identical stuffed white cats (without the internet), stretched wet jeans to meet junior high length standards, baked brownies when a thin envelope arrived from a first-choice college and traveled all over the country to help with moves. Later, she spoiled her two grandchildren with affection (and toys, of course).

Once her kids were gone, after years of joking (and, yes, some complaining) about her husband the golf nut, she took up the game herself—and found she liked it. In 1995, they retired to a golf resort in the Texas Hill Country. They enjoyed traveling for grandchildren, golf and relief from summer heat. When Bob died in 2018, she moved to Virginia to be near her children.

A Sinatra loving bobby-soxer who knew even the bit players in all the MGM musicals, she was also a fan of music and movies from every era of her life. She was a strong believer in retail therapy, especially shoe sales—and if that didn’t work, chocolate. Her family will miss hanging out with her and the comfort of having a world-class worrier looking out for them.

Barbara is survived by her daughter Robin Berg of Tysons, Virginia; her daughter Terri, son-in-law, Brian, and grandson Andrew Smith, all of Rockville, Maryland and granddaughter Claire Smith of Washington, D.C. The family plans a private interment.