Linda C. Barry

Stephentown – Linda Catherine (Gerstel) Barry, died Tuesday, December 14, 2010, at the Easton Nursing Center in Easton, PA, where she was cared for during a long illness. She is the wife of Paul Douglass Barry.  They were married 46 years in June and had three children and two grandchildren.
Born June 18, 1943, in Troy, NY, she was the daughter of Adolf and Olive Engwer Gerstel. She graduated from Berlin High School in 1961 and went on to nursing school at Bishop Memorial School in Pittsfield, MA, graduating in 1964.  She worked for many years at Pittsfield General Hospital, now Berkshire Medical Center, before working at a variety of hospitals in northeastern Pennsylvania. She went on to earn a specialization as an occupational health nurse, holding positions in a number of Allentown, PA, area firms.
Linda converted to Catholicism, making her first communion together with her son Eric. She remained devout throughout her life. Linda had an insatiable zest for learning, taking up skiing when her elder children were teenagers. She earned a college degree in her 40s, something that she took great pride in. She loved crafts, making things for her children as they grew, and collecting Longaberger baskets. Christmas was her favorite time of year.
She is survived by her husband, her daughter, Colleen Barry, who resides in Italy with her husband Martino Masotto, her daughter, Katrina Barry of San Diego, CA, her son, Eric Barry of Providence, RI, two grandchildren,  Emilio Barry and Bianca Stella Masotto, her brother, Gary Gerstel of Berlin, NY, and her sister, Deborah Zwack of Stephentown, NY. Her mother, Olive, died on Thanksgiving Day of this year while her father, Adolf, died in January 1966. She is pre-deceased by her brothers, Wayne and Donn.
A Liturgy of Christian Death and Burial will be celebrated by Rev. John Close on Monday, December 20, at 11 am in St. Joseph’s Church, Route 43, Stephentown. Interment will follow in St. Joseph’s Cemetery.
Relatives and friends are invited to the Hall & Higgins Funeral Home, 457 NY 43, Stephentown, on Sunday from 4 to 7 pm for visitation.
Memorial donations may be made to the  Alzheimer’s Association via www.alz.org.