Barbara Jean Mandell

Barbara Jean Mandell passed peacefully at her home in West Stockbridge, MA, on April 17, 2024. She was 89.

Barbara was born in Oil City, PA, and grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. She was a graduate of the High School of Music & Art and Hunter College.

After a career teaching in the New York City public school system, Barbara retired to her beloved Berkshires where she resided for over forty years. Her home away from home was Tanglewood, where she volunteered as an archivist and delighted in attending concerts of the BSO, chamber ensembles and student orchestras.

Barbara had an encyclopedic knowledge of classical music and the uncanny ability to at the drop of a hat sing any number from the Great American Songbook. A voluminous reader, she volunteered to make audio recordings of books for the blind.

Barbara lived a life full of love, laughter and music. She was passionate about her family and friends and was adored by all who knew her. She will be sorely missed.

She is survived by her son Barney Charlon, his wife Linda Bennett, and their daughter Molly Charlon, of Washington, DC; her stepson James Mandell and his wife Lisa Johnson Mandell, of Las Vegas, NV; her stepson Jeffrey Mandell and his wife Abigail Jones, of Beverly Hills, CA, their son Alex Mandell, of Los Angeles, CA, and their daughter Juliana Mandell and her husband Nathan Powell, of Boulder, CO; her sister Eleanor Stern, of San Rafael, CA; her niece Alison Erde, of Eugene, OR; her nephew Charles Erde, of Arden, NC; her niece Marcie Judelson and her husband David Matthews, of San Francisco, CA; her niece Amy Pivar and her husband Edward DeLong, of Kailua, HI; and her niece Marjorie Pivar, of Brattleboro, VT. Edward Mandell, her husband of over thirty years, died in 2005.

To send remembrances to her family please go to www.finnertyandstevens.com