Barbara Synowicki

Barbara Synowicki (née Clapp), 71, of Liverpool, NY passed away peacefully Sunday afternoon while her daughters both held her hands. Born in Central Square, NY she traveled as a young child, attending multiple schools around the country, and being immersed in different cultures. She loved telling people of her claim to fame, meeting the Beach Boys in a coffee shop in Arizona! She ultimately found her way back to her roots and graduated from Central Square High School. Barb met the love of her life, Gary, while on a girl’s trip to Canada when she was a teenager. She thought it was fate (specifically a toss of a coin that they used to decide where to go that evening) to have traveled from America, across the Canadian border, and to the exact bar she met her true love. And it was love at first sight. They started a long-distance relationship, Barb from Syracuse, NY and Gary from Toronto, Ontario for months until Barb decided to move to Canada and marry Gary. They had two daughters together and enjoyed married life. When her husband, Gary, got sick and passed away, she decided to move back to Syracuse, NY to be with her family and to raise her young daughters with the help of her loving mother, Rena. To move to another country and raise children by herself after such a devastating loss took amazing courage, strength, and resilience that made her daughters proud. Barb found her calling in helping others. She graduated with honors from Seneca College nursing school and worked as a registered nurse in the oncology unit at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, Ontario for 16 years. After her husband passed away, she relocated to Syracuse, NY and worked at St. Joseph’s Hospital on the one-day surgery unit for 26 years until she retired in 2016. She was a compassionate, nurturing woman who was perfectly suited for and thrived as a nurse. Although she was a dedicated and caring mother, Barb relished in being a grandmother to Gracie, Charlie, and Louie. She adored her three grandchildren endlessly. She was a devoted and hands on Gramma who built forts, played Lego, read countless stories, played dress up, explored on nature hikes, sang loudly, and held dance parties, did arts and crafts, and especially loved weekly outings to museums, zoos, plays, musicals, libraries, and parks. Her favorite title was Gramma. She lit up around her grandchildren as they did her and they gave her a new purpose. Barb loved animals of all kinds and learning as much as she could about them. She had a green thumb and surrounded herself with beautiful plants and flowers. She was an avid reader who read the last chapter of a novel first, so she knew how it ended before it began! Her favorite television and movies were science fiction. She loved learning about crystals, reiki, astrology, and essential oils and found them to be healing. She delighted in the fact that her older sister, Dianne, named her. She often treated herself to manicures and pedicures, she enjoyed going out to eat, and she loved the color purple. Barb is survived by her daughters, Samantha (Joe) Ostrowski, and Jessica (Rick) York, her beloved grandchildren, Gracie, Charlie, and Louie, her sister, Marge (Nolan) Bradbury, and several nieces, nephews, and cousins. She was preceded in death by her husband, Gary, her sister, Dianne, her mother, Rena Gardner, and her father George Clapp. Her daughters would like to thank Chaplin Tom Anderson, for his presence, compassion, and support through their mother’s entire hospital stay. Calling hours will be held on Saturday, January 21, 2023 from 2:30 – 4:30 pm, followed by a funeral service in celebration of Barb’s life at 4:45 pm at the THOMAS J. PIRRO JR. FUNERAL HOME, 3401 Vickery Rd. (Corner of Buckley Rd.) North Syracuse, NY.

Barbara Synowicki

February 5, 1951 - January 15, 2023