Barbara Wagner

07/08/2006

Barbara Wagner, 67, of 173 Church St. died Saturday at home after a long battle with cancer. She was born in Cambridge on Jan. 18, 1939, daughter of Frederick V. and Martha Wall Nissen. Her family owned the former Wall-Streeter Shoe Co. on Union Street, which was founded by her grandfather, James E. Wall. She was a 1957 graduate of Drury High School and a 1961 graduate of Marymount College in Tarrytown, N.Y. At the time of death, Mrs. Wagner was employed by Century 21 Harold Dupee Realtors as a real estate agent and was a Graduate Realtors Institute and Accredited Buyers representative. She became a broker in 1989. From 1961 to 1963, she taught school in San Diego. After returning to Massachusetts to raise her family, she worked part time as a substitute teacher in the North Adams Public Schools until 1984. She was a communicant of St. Francis' Church and an initiator of the capital campaign to establish the North Adams Ambulance Service, for which she served as president for 29 years. She was also a volunteer for the Northern Berkshire Fall Foliage Festival, serving as chairwoman of the Miss Northern Berkshire Beauty Pageant. And for many years, she was involved with the North Adams Regional Hospital Auxiliary and the North Adams Chamber of Commerce. Mrs. Wagner was permanent secretary for the Drury High School class of 1957 and contributed to the efforts of the Community Coalition. She was active in many local political campaigns and served as a corporator for Hoosac Bank and Northern Berkshire Health Systems. She was a past recipient of the Carol Hess Memorial Award. Her first husband, retired Navy Cmdr. James J. Forrestal, died in September 2005. She leaves a daughter, Jane Forrestal Fluhr of Antrim, N.H., and a sister, Jane N. McKenzie of Williamstown. FUNERAL NOTICE -- The funeral for Barbara Wagner, who died Saturday, July 8, 2006, will be Thursday, July 13, at 11 at St. Francis' Church in North Adams. Burial will take place in the family plot at Southview Cemetery, North Adams, and will be private. Calling hours at FLYNN & DAGNOLI-MONTAGNA HOME FOR FUNERALS, WEST CHAPEL, 521 West Main St., North Adams, MA 01247, will be Wednesday, July 12, from 4 to 7. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory are suggested for the North Adams Ambulance Service or the American Lung Association, both through the funeral home. She also leaves a son-in-law, William K. Fluhr of Antrim, N.H.; a brother-in-law, Ronald D. McKenzie of Latrobe, Pa.; two granddaughters, Hannah and Victoria Ellsworth of Antrim; an aunt, Virginia D. Wall; two nieces, Barbara A. McKenzie of North Adams and Deborah C. Pedraza of Ashburn, Va.; a grandniece, Ann McKenzie of North Adams; a nephew, James F. McKenzie of Pittsburgh; four cousins, Marjorie Wood of Latham, N.Y., Patricia Wynkoop of Annapolis, Md., Nancy Thorne of Fairfield, Conn., and Jinx VanSteemburg of Loudonville, N.Y.

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