Obituary of Barbara Evelyn Pagliaro

Sharp as a tack and still reading books in a day or two, Barbara Evelyn McDowell Pagliaro died peacefully in her sleep on December 27, 2023 after a very full 92 years of life. A mother of four, grandmother to many, great-grandmother and great-great grandmother, she leaves behind a legacy of delightful memories with people who loved her dearly. Barbara was born first of three children to Robert and Evelyn McDowell (Bertram) on May 22, 1931, in Oceanside, New York. She said she roller skated wherever she could as a child and often grabbed a frankfurter from one of the original Nathan’s on Long Beach Ave. She still had report cards, mementos and old programs from cheerleading for football games from Oceanside High School in a box that she kept after all these years. Barbara was married to Anthony Pagliaro for 72 years before he died in 2022. “When I first saw her, she was walking with her sister, and I never saw her before,” Tony said, recalling in 2021 the moment he laid eyes on Barbara. “I said to somebody, ‘who’s that girl?’ and they said, ‘she comes over here once in a while, but she don’t live here.’ I said, ‘I’m going to marry her.’ Swear to God.”’ Two years later, just before Tony joined the Navy, they stopped along the street while walking home from a date. Barbara sat on top of a garbage can, and Tony proposed. She married him against her parents’ wishes. They eventually bought a cape cod house in Freeport, New York, where they raised their family. Barbara is survived by her children, Evelyn Takacs (Pagliaro) married to Mike, Thomas Pagliaro married to Colette, Mary Rayner (Pagliaro) and Anthony Pagliaro married to Bridgette and her grandchildren John and wife Tina, Jessica and husband Joseph, Cristi and husband Kenneth, Timothy, Thomas, Nicolas and wife Lauren, Laura and husband Dan, Richard, Kaitlin and husband John, Brittany, Christopher and wife Amy, Lindsay and husband Garrett. She is survived by her great-grandchildren, Tinya, Joseph and wife Lisa, Elizabeth, Cynthia, Skylar, Grayson, Sienna, Aria, Roman, Caroline and Georgia, and her great-great grandchildren Jayden, Adilia and Carmello. She is also survived by her sister Luella Grandazza (McDowell) and brother, Robert McDowell, and her nieces Donna, Linda, and Tracy, and nephew Michael and wife Karla and son Mason. To honor and celebrate her life with love, there will be a wake on Friday, January 5 from 2–4 p.m. and 7–9 p.m. at Perry Funeral Home in Lynbrook, New York. There will be an entombment service at Pine Lawn Memorial Park in Farmingdale, New York at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 6.