Barbara J. Drews

Barbara Jeanette (nee Gilroy) Drews went to her heavenly home with Jesus on the 5th of August at the age of 92. She is survived by her son Wayne (Carolyn) Drews, and daughter, Nancy (Brian) Otto; grandchildren, Haley (Jon) Bonczyk, Alyssa Otto and Greg Drews, and great grandchildren, Karis, Sutton, Jamie and Chase Bonczyk. She was predeceased by her husband, Reinhold (Ray) Drews and Brother, Bill Gilroy. She leaves behind several nephews and nieces.

Barbara’s life began on August 17, 1932, as the daughter of Herman and Rhena Gilroy in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. She grew up in a close-knit community. Her mother had been a teacher and came from a well respected family whose ancestors included Alexander Muir, school headmaster, poet, and writer of the “Maple Leaf Forever”, which served briefly as Canada’s National Anthem. Her father had begun a career in sales and would later own a men’s clothing store. Barbara recalled an idyllic childhood in New Market where she discovered a love for horses, played baseball and began her life-long addiction to perms.

In 1947, Barbara’s family moved west across Canada to British Columbia, where upon graduating high school, she attended the nursing program at the Royal Columbia Hospital.

It was at this time that her life, its direction and meaning, changed forever.

A fellow student introduced Barbara to the Gospel message found the Bible and she became a believer in Jesus Christ, trusting Him alone to save her from God’s wrath. From then on, she lived out her faith in Christ’s sacrifice to make her right with God. This faith was the impetus behind her many life decisions such as attending Intervarsity Christian Fellowship meetings, where she met her husband (Ray), raising her children with Christ as a prominent theme in their home, and sharing her voice in the choir at church.

Barbara briefly worked as a Registered Nurse in Vancouver and then in Berkeley CA. She and Ray started their family in California and soon moved to Rochester where they remained for the rest of their lives. By the time they came to NY, Barbara had hung up her nursing cap and chose to focus on raising her family. She made sure they always ate dinner as a family, got their homework done, went to bed at a good hour, spanked them when needed (ask Wayne) and made sure they had fun. She was a support to her husband as he would plan, and she would execute. She enjoyed taking voice lessons and was quite active in the church, expressing herself through solos on Sundays.

In her later years, she had many great adventures with Ray. These adventures included trips to Europe, China, Australia and cruises in the Caribbean, Baltic Sea and along the Alaskan coast. A handful of these trips included their children and grandchildren. For a time, they owned a home in Florida to which they would escape for the winter.

As old age began to overtake her, Barbara continued to care deeply about and be a faithful prayer warrior for her family and friends. She knew her Bible backwards and forwards from years of reading it. She was not perfect by any means and struggled with sin’s distortion, distraction and manipulation as we all do, but she trusted that Christ had freed her from eternal death and separation that awaits us all. Having experienced this freedom and the love she knew her Savior had for her, she was intent on sharing this with as many people as she could.

Please feel free to come and celebrate Barbara’s life with us on Sunday August 31, at Browncroft Community Church at 4pm.

To share a memory of Barbara or leave a special message for her family, visit the guest book below.