Earning her nursing degree from Villa Maria College in 1973, Barbara was taken on a winding career path that would prove rewarding. Originally working as a labor and delivery nurse for the Army during the Vietnam War, she earned the rank as Captain before completing her service in 1976 and continued to earn her Criminal Justice Nursing license in Oakland, California and worked as a nurse in prisons along the West Coast.
Barbara left the nursing field due to a physical disability and began repairing computers, scanners and printers in retail establishments before moving back east to care for family. At about this time, Barbara was given the chance to become Bishop, and was ordained as such on December 11, 2010. As Bishop of the Eastern Rite Monastics within the Ohio Orthodox Catholic Church, she oversees and manages the parishes and clergy of the Eastern Rite Monastics of the Church. Oddly enough, Barbara continues to live in Three Rivers, Massachusetts.
Outside of being a religious leader, Barbara loves music and plays various instruments, including her favorite: the 12-stringed guitar. She hopes to someday soon retire and move from Massachusetts to Ohio and dedicate her life full-time to the church. She reminds students that the world is a wide open place and to not let our “fences” keep us out of places. “Be open!”
(Published July 2014)