This obituary is a love letter to Barbara S. Mushkat from her family. Barbara passed peacefully in her sleep on March 29th.

Barbara was a beacon of love and strength for her family and friends. She balanced two successful lives, beginning as a self-confident child, a gifted student, a wonderful wife to Jerome, adoring mother of Linda and Steven, their spouses, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren, and mom of her four-legged best friend Benn. In her second life she was a professional, accomplished attorney-at-law for fifty years, a pioneer and role model for other women entering the legal profession.

These activities reflected her true inner person: smart, honest, ethical, compassionate, moral, empathetic, stable, humorous, and fashionable. Her outer person turned these virtues into helping others. She was a tireless advocate for gender equality, helped start the Women's Network, and participated in a wide variety of legal, charitable, and community groups. Barbara had a passion for chocolate and ran Chocolate Festival fundraisers in the late 1980s.

In accordance with her wishes, there will be no funeral service, nor calling hours. Donations to her memory can be made to the Humane Society of Summit County, or the local Crohn's and Colitis Foundation at https://on-line.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donate.event&eventID=968
Barbara's legacy of love and compassion will live on in the hearts of all who knew her.