Welcome to Briar-Brae Cattery

Picture courtesy of Bob Zenda.

Barbara Ostheimer St. Georges

Barbara was born April 3, 1929, in Germantown, PA, the oldest child with three younger brothers, Jim, Tony and John, and a younger sister, Martha. She moved to New Mexico in 1973, after a divorce from her husband of 25 years, Joe St. Georges.

Barbara and Joe had six children: Ken, Philip, Aimee, Lynn, Mark and Melanie. Sadly, two of her children pre-deceased her, Ken, in 1969 at age 20, and Philip, in 1998 at age 47. These two sons died very suddenly and she always felt that was so unfair, but she gained a new daughter in the process; Tracy Jacobs; who was engaged to Ken when he died and has been Barbara's daughter ever since. Barbara also suffered the loss of a son-in-law in 1999, Aimee's husband, Philip Thacher. Besides being survived by her four living children, Barbara also is survived by nine grandchildren: Luke, Kate, Jennifer, Molly, Cody, Rory, Savannah, Philip and Amber, and her siblings.

Barbara dearly loved her children and grandchildren, but they were not her entire life. Barbara became interested in showing purebred cats in the 1950s and became a world-recognized breeder and Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) judge, earning her 45th-anniversary judging pin in 2006. Barbara's career helped her see the world on somebody else's dime and she traveled to judge cat shows in nearly all the U.S. states as well as countries as far-reaching as Brazil, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Germany, Belgium, France, Holland, Italy and most recently, in October 2008, Russia. Barbara was the president of the CFA Judging Association from 1974-77, served on the CFA Board of Directors for a number of years, and held numerous offices in local cat clubs for decades.

When people think of Barbara, they think of a strong-willed/minded/bodied woman who did not let the pain of losing her sons, her divorce, and the wears and tears of an aging body slow her down. She was always ready for the next adventure and consistently showed the enthusiasm in life of a much-younger person.

The Rainbow Bridge poem meant so much to Barbara, who knew in her heart that when she left this earth, she would meet the most-special animals she had in her 80 years, as well as her two sons and all the other loved ones who left before her. To paraphrase the poem, She has been spotted, and when she and her special friends (and family) finally meet, they cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon her face; her hands again caress the beloved heads, and she looks once more into the trusting eyes of her pets (and family), so long gone from her life but never absent from her heart. Together, Barbara, her sons, and other family members and friends who left before, along with her beloved pets, have now crossed Rainbow Bridge.

A memorial service will be held for Barbara at 1 pm Friday, May 1, 2009 (a May Day celebration of Barbara's life), at the American Legion Post 49, 11007 Central Ave NE., Albuquerque, NM. Interment will follow later this year at the Pound Ridge, NY, cemetery, where she will finally join her two sons.

In lieu of flowers, please send memorial contributions in Barbara's name to the Joseph Kennedy St. Georges Scholarship Fund, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH.

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