Barbara Strayer

Barbara “Barb” Strayer, 75, of Norwalk and formerly of Bellevue passed away Sunday, October 20, 2024 at the Fisher-Titus Medical Center in Norwalk.  She was born March 13, 1949 in Akron, the daughter of Alney and Elsie (Loveland) Contner.

Barb was a graduate of Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Kentucky.  Barb held many different positions throughout her career.  Barb worked as a teacher in the Bellevue School System and worked at the School of Hope as a teacher with special needs students.  Barb had a passion for working with mentally challenged children.  She worked many years alongside her husband in the office of Strayer Insurance and Real Estate in Bellevue.  Barb finished out her career as the Music Director at Lakeview United Methodist Church.  Barb loved the members of this church as if they were her own family.   

She loved to read and take “One Tank Trips” throughout Ohio, but especially to Amish Country.  Barbara was also instrumental in the founding of St. Paul’s Day Care in Bellevue.  She was a loving mother, who enjoyed being with her grandkids and grand pups.  Barb loved absorbing the warm North Carolina sun on the beach. 

She is survived by her husband, Gary Strayer whom she married June 12, 1971, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; two sons: Shane (Danielle) Strayer of Huntersville, NC and Seth (Sandy) Strayer of Stokesdale, NC; 2 grandchildren: Alexander and Paige; and sisters, Judy (Gary) Pagnard of The Villages, FL and Martha Faith of Plant City, FL, and sister-in-law Katherine “Kathy” Strayer of Sandusky.

Barbara is preceded in death by her parents and brother-in-law Robert Strayer.

Friends will be received from 10 a.m. until a memorial service begins at 11 a.m. at Lakeview United Methodist Church, 6 South Street, Berlin Heights, OH 44814.

Memorials can be made to the church in her memory in lieu of flowers