Barbara Jane (Wilcox) Lyons

Barbara Jane (Wilcox) Lyons

Barbara Jane Wilcox was born on October 11,1935 in Brooklyn, NY. She was the daughter of Frederick and Edith (Stringer) Wilcox. She spent her younger years growing up in Brooklyn with her parents and grand parents. She loved the things the city offered including Coney Island.  At the age of 9 her family relocated to Pine Island, a small village in the Hudson Valley region of New York. Through her life she also lived in Taiwan and various parts of South Texas.

Barbara, better known as Bobbie, had her first exposure to farm life on her family’s small poultry farm. She and her younger brother Fred worked summers in a neighboring orchard where they picked fruit to earn a few extra dollars. In her younger years Bobbie enjoyed roller and ice skating and spending time with her grandparents Harry and Elsie Stringer who resided nearby. Bobbie attended grade school in Pine Island and graduated in 1953 from Warwick High School in Warwick, NY. While in high school she choose a secretarial career for her studies. She was a very popular and social student and enjoyed playing field hockey and participating in the school’s dramatic club. She was very active in the Amity Presbyterian Church. Following graduation from high school she began her secretarial and bookkeeping career by accepting an offer from Dunn and Bradstreet in a neighboring community.

Bobbie was first married to Kenneth C Gerlitz. Kenny’s military service (USAF) took him and his family to San Antonio, Texas where they settled permanently.

Through the years, Bobbie worked a variety of jobs, including a period as a Red Cross Volunteer and believe it or not an amateur stock car drag racer at the old San Antonio Drag Strip. Her passion, however, was admin and bookkeeping. As a military spouse in Taiwan (1965-1967), she worked directly for the top military brass in the US Taiwan Defense Command handling international monetary transactions and sensitive military information. After returning to San Antonio, she began working for a new Italian restaurant called Paesanos that opened during the 1968 World’s Fair, as the bookkeeper for this young restaurant. She helped it grow into a top-rated Italian restaurant in the city. Other jobs include bookkeeping for a printing company, an oil company which oversaw the Kennedy accounts in the south Texas oil fields and a clothes shop.

One night a neighbor invited her to a party. She was hesitant about going. There she met a friend of her neighbor’s who tried to occupy all of her time so she left. That person was persistent in the next months and she grew fond of his attention, but was still unsure if they had a future together. Through time a friendship developed and then turned into something more. She married Morgan Lyons who turned out to be the love of her life. She was happy for the first time in a very long time. She moved to the country, south of San Antonio, on a farm with chickens, cows and goats. They decided to buy 100 acres in the area, built a house and added pigs, donkeys, wallabies and many various birds. She and Morgan got interested in pot bellied pigs and became breeders of show pigs. They went to numerous County and State fairs to compete.

They both took an interest in baseball and supported the San Antonio Missions, a minor league team. They traveled to numerous places with the team and even had team members out for parties and dinners since they were away from their families.

In 2007 they decided to move to New Jersey. They had been up numerous times to Tabernacle to visit their son Curt Lyons and his wife Debra. Morgan and Bobbie bought a house in the Chatsworth area with 25 wooded acres. The acres were important to both of them. They raised chickens and guinea birds. In time they downsized the acreage and bought a house in Tabernacle.

Her life in New Jersey brought many new adventures. She worked the county elections, worked with her son Curt at the Atlantic City Classic Car Show for 12 years, worked the wine festivals at Valenzano Winery for many years, was a retired member of the Cranberry Festival Committee and an active member of Buddtown United Methodist Church. She enjoyed the monthly trips she and Morgan made to Atlantic City and had the excitement of winning a progressive jackpot. She also participated in the 2007 Extreme Makeover in Camden NJ.

I did find a letter that explains the welcome she and Morgan received and why they did not go back to Texas. Numerous people have asked “So why did we choose Chatsworth and Tabernacle. It is because of the residents, we have never met so many wonderful people. Everyone has been so helpful, thoughtful and friendly, as if they have known us all our lives.”

She was preceded in death by Morgan 5 months earlier. She is survived by her brother (Frederick and wife Carol in Hershey PA), 3 sons (Curt and wife Debra in Tabernacle, Steve and Hong Suk in Hawaii, Jeff and Donna in San Antonio TX), 4 grandchildren (Jeff Jr, Robyne, Freddy and Julie), 4 great grandchildren (Emma, Mikaela, Amelia and Nora) and her 2 puppies (Chelsea and Coco) and many other family members. She had a quick wit and interjected humor to lighten up any situation. She made an impression with everyone she met and will be greatly missed by many. Her later years were spent taking care of Morgan as he started having health issues. She also enjoyed helping others and donated to numerous organizations. During her rehab at Masonic she enjoyed sitting with others and helping them feel better about their situation. Her memory will live on in the hearts of those who knew her.

We will be holding a memorial service for her on Friday, April 11, 2025 at 11:30AM. Please arrive 15 minutes early, as this is a Military Cemetery.  She will be joining Morgan at the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Memorial Cemetery in North Hanover Township.

RIP MOM and you are now with Dad.

If you are interested in making a donation, mom would want you to “Do something nice for someone else. A little bit of kindness goes a long way and can make a difference in someone else’s life”.

Arrangements under the direction of the Bradley & Stow Funeral Home 127 Medford-Mt. Holly Road, Medford, NJ 08055

(BradleyStow.com)

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