Mrs. Barbara Ann Shields

Barbara Ann Shields, age 72, passed away on December 26, 2018 following complications from breast cancer. She lived a loving and robust life. Barbara was born September 16, 1946 in Queens, NY to Leonard and Helen Jaworowski, the youngest of four children and a second-generation Polish-American. Barbara was bright, determined and focused, skipping a grade in grammar school, and developing a desire to help others. She was the first in her family to earn a professional degree, and she attended and graduated from Kings County School of Nursing in 1968. While in nursing school, she met and fell in love with Thomas Shields, a recent Navy veteran and a Brooklyn NY native. In August 1968, Barbara and Thomas married and they started their fifty-year adventure of living life to the fullest. They soon brought two sons into the world, Thomas born in 1969 and Joseph in 1971. They began their family in the Queens apartment above the home of Leonard and Helen, before buying their first home in North Merrick, NY. Family soon followed her to Long Island, and North Merrick, including her brother around the corner and her in-laws across the street. In 1982, a job-relocation took Tom, Barbara and her children from Long Island to Kinnelon in Northern-New Jersey, a region where they lived and thrived in for over 30 years. In 2011, Barbara was recruited to steward nurse management duties with the new Orange County Regional Medical Center, Barbara and Tom moved to the Fairways in Middletown, NY. Barbara was a nurse and a healer. She had a fifty-year career as a working mom and registered nurse with a range of duties including providing care and management in intensive and critical units, cardiac rehab, administration and eventually diabetes education. Highly sought after, she led and was engaged at several hospitals in New York and New Jersey and finally at Orange County Regional Medical Center. A mentor and zealous learner, Barbara was recognized as a leader in her field by both patients, peers and medical colleagues. In 2007, Barbara was named Nurse of the Year by her employer, and was a finalist for the prestigious Tri-State Nursing Spectrum Award. She was the first nursing director of the 5 South unit at Orange County Regional Medical Center and finished her career as a certified Diabetes Clinical Specialist at Catskill Regional Medical Center. Despite a stage-4 diagnosis in January 2018, Barbara was serving and caring for diabetic patients when she became ill at work two weeks before her death. Barbara loved her family above all else. She is survived by her husband of 50 years, Tom, sons Thomas and Joseph, their wives, Alexandra and Yasmeen, and her beloved five grandchildren, Padraic, Peter, Christopher, Isabella and Madison; as well as her sisters Kathy and Franny, and sisters in-law Corinne and Mary K, as well as dozens of cousins, nieces, nephews and friends. Her adored big-brother, Leonard, passed away in 2015, along with her brother in law Edward 2002. We will celebrate Barbara’s life with a short memorial service at Calverton Cemetery at XX:00 pm/am on January 1, 2018 followed by dinner at The Barndoor, 36 West Main Street, Bay Shore, NY 11706. In lieu of flowers, family is requesting those able and willing to consider a donation to the “Honor a Nurse Campaign”, with the American Nursing Association in Barbara’s name. https://www.nursingworld.org/foundation/donate/honor-a-nurse/

Mrs. Barbara Ann Shields

September 16, 1946 - December 26, 2018