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August 11, 2026
Services
Friends may visit with the family on Friday, August 14, 2026 at Our Lady of Consolation RC Church, 1799 Hamburg Turnpike, Wayne, between 9 AM and 10:30 AM. A funeral mass will follow at 11 AM. Barbara will be laid to rest with her husband, Jerry, at the Holy Sepulchre Mausoleum in Totowa.
Barbara Joan "Barbie" Speziale of Wayne, passed away on Monday, August 10, 2026, at the age of 87. She was the life of every party, a light in every room, and a friend to everyone she met. Her smile was contagious, her laugh was constant, and her shoulder was always there for anyone who needed to lean on it.
Barbara was born on May 23, 1939, in Totowa, New Jersey, to her loving parents, Rose and Oscar Padula. The youngest of three, she shared lifelong bonds with her brother, Anthony, and her sister, Patricia. Though eight years apart, Barbara and Patricia were more like best friends than sisters, spending vacations and holidays together with their families, taking trips to the shore together and heading to the diner for waffles and ice cream.
At Passaic Valley High School, Barbara marched as a twirler, made memories with her best friend Gloria, and loved to retell those stories for the rest of her life. But Passaic Valley gave her something far greater: it was there, watching a boy named Jerry on the basketball court, that she saw the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on. He would soon become the love of her life and soulmate. Their first date was at the Oxford Theatre for "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," a fitting title for what followed. Jerry proposed at the Falls View in Paterson. On October 5, 1958, they were married at Saint James Church in Totowa, followed by a celebration at The Circle Restaurant and honeymoon in Miami, Florida. Their devoted marriage of sixty-seven years was blessed with love, kindness, faith, and two children, Jerry and Debbie.
Barbara graduated from Berkley Business School in 1958 and returned as an honored guest for the school's 90th anniversary in 2021, a true testament to a career that never really ended. Smart, hardworking, and a gifted writer, she spent more than sixty years as a paralegal at the Law Offices of Michael A. Rubin, where she was still working part-time at the time of her passing. She loved her work, and it showed.
But nothing came before family. Barbara's favorite place in the world was wherever her children and grandchildren were, hanging out at her son Jerry's home, sharing a Starbucks with her daughter Deb, or curled up on the couch watching Netflix with one of her beloved grandchildren beside her. She was their proudest cheerleader, celebrating every milestone, big and small. Her warmth extended far beyond her own family: she embraced her children's and grandchildren's friends as her own, and everybody knew Grammy Barb. She had a rare gift for lifting people up when they were down, and she made everyone she met feel like they mattered, because to her they truly did.
Barbara was the devoted wife of her late husband, Jerry; loving mother of Jerry Speziale and his wife, Beatrice, and Debbie Mastrangelo and her husband, Thomas; beloved grandmother of Francesca Richmond and her husband, Walter; Brittney Hogan and her husband, Tyler; Jerry Speziale, Jr.; Paige Speziale and her boyfriend, Michael Casasanta; Christopher Mastrangelo and his wife, Allyson; Michael Mastrangelo; Kenny Kerwin; and Connor Kerwin; dearly loved great-grandmother of Madison, Adriana, Audriana, Emma, and Nicholas; and a beloved aunt, cousin and great-aunt to many.
Barbara was truly one of a kind. Her family will miss her forever, cherish her memory always, and carry her light with them just as she carried it into every room she ever entered.
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Friends may visit with the family on Friday, August 14, 2026 at Our Lady of Consolation RC Church, 1799 Hamburg Turnpike, Wayne, between 9 AM and 10:30 AM. A funeral mass will follow at 11 AM. Barbara will be laid to rest with her husband, Jerry, at the Holy Sepulchre Mausoleum in Totowa.
August 11, 2026
Services
Friends may visit with the family on Friday, August 14, 2026 at Our Lady of Consolation RC Church, 1799 Hamburg Turnpike, Wayne, between 9 AM and 10:30 AM. A funeral mass will follow at 11 AM. Barbara will be laid to rest with her husband, Jerry, at the Holy Sepulchre Mausoleum in Totowa.
Barbara Joan "Barbie" Speziale of Wayne, passed away on Monday, August 10, 2026, at the age of 87. She was the life of every party, a light in every room, and a friend to everyone she met. Her smile was contagious, her laugh was constant, and her shoulder was always there for anyone who needed to lean on it.
Barbara was born on May 23, 1939, in Totowa, New Jersey, to her loving parents, Rose and Oscar Padula. The youngest of three, she shared lifelong bonds with her brother, Anthony, and her sister, Patricia. Though eight years apart, Barbara and Patricia were more like best friends than sisters, spending vacations and holidays together with their families, taking trips to the shore together and heading to the diner for waffles and ice cream.
At Passaic Valley High School, Barbara marched as a twirler, made memories with her best friend Gloria, and loved to retell those stories for the rest of her life. But Passaic Valley gave her something far greater: it was there, watching a boy named Jerry on the basketball court, that she saw the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on. He would soon become the love of her life and soulmate. Their first date was at the Oxford Theatre for "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," a fitting title for what followed. Jerry proposed at the Falls View in Paterson. On October 5, 1958, they were married at Saint James Church in Totowa, followed by a celebration at The Circle Restaurant and honeymoon in Miami, Florida. Their devoted marriage of sixty-seven years was blessed with love, kindness, faith, and two children, Jerry and Debbie.
Barbara graduated from Berkley Business School in 1958 and returned as an honored guest for the school's 90th anniversary in 2021, a true testament to a career that never really ended. Smart, hardworking, and a gifted writer, she spent more than sixty years as a paralegal at the Law Offices of Michael A. Rubin, where she was still working part-time at the time of her passing. She loved her work, and it showed.
But nothing came before family. Barbara's favorite place in the world was wherever her children and grandchildren were, hanging out at her son Jerry's home, sharing a Starbucks with her daughter Deb, or curled up on the couch watching Netflix with one of her beloved grandchildren beside her. She was their proudest cheerleader, celebrating every milestone, big and small. Her warmth extended far beyond her own family: she embraced her children's and grandchildren's friends as her own, and everybody knew Grammy Barb. She had a rare gift for lifting people up when they were down, and she made everyone she met feel like they mattered, because to her they truly did.
Barbara was the devoted wife of her late husband, Jerry; loving mother of Jerry Speziale and his wife, Beatrice, and Debbie Mastrangelo and her husband, Thomas; beloved grandmother of Francesca Richmond and her husband, Walter; Brittney Hogan and her husband, Tyler; Jerry Speziale, Jr.; Paige Speziale and her boyfriend, Michael Casasanta; Christopher Mastrangelo and his wife, Allyson; Michael Mastrangelo; Kenny Kerwin; and Connor Kerwin; dearly loved great-grandmother of Madison, Adriana, Audriana, Emma, and Nicholas; and a beloved aunt, cousin and great-aunt to many.
Barbara was truly one of a kind. Her family will miss her forever, cherish her memory always, and carry her light with them just as she carried it into every room she ever entered.
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