"R. I. P. Barbara A. (Tillotson) Northrup"

Barbara A. (Tillotson) Northrup, 80, of Endicott, born August 2, 1929 in Johnson City, NY, peacefully entered Heaven on Tuesday, December 1, 2009, at Lourdes Hospital surrounded by her family. Barbara was predeceased by her parents, Asa and Margaret (Davis) Tillotson; a niece, Nancy Wagner; and nephews, Donald Tillotson and James Tillotson. She is survived by her husband of 52 years, M. Carl Northrup; six sons, Carl Thrasher, Colchester, VT, Robert Northrup of Colorado, Richard (Ann) Northrup of Maine, NY, Randall (Diane) Northrup of Endicott, Thomas (Christine) Northrup of West Henrietta, NY, Timothy Northrup of Endicott; and one daughter, Debra (Lee) Vivian of Lancaster, PA. She also loved all eleven grandchildren, Jason, Melanie, Kristine, Richard, Heather, Nicholas, Zachary, Josiah, Kathryn, John and Matthew; and great-granddaughter, Mosel. Also surviving are two brothers, Ronald (Diana) Tillotson of Endicott and Donald (Sandra) Tillotson of Vestal; and sister, Louise (Warren) Whittemore of Endicott.

She was actively involved in supporting her children's and grandchildren's activities and sports and squeezed in some of her own activities. She was a member at various times of: PTA, Union Business Women's Club, U-E Wrestling Boosters, Good Sam Club, U-E Football and Band Boosters, Round Hill Chapter 104 OES, Old Town of Union Historical Society, Supervisor for Organization of Triangles, Parents Circle for DeMolay, Precious Moments Club and U-E Class of 48 Lunch Bunch. She enjoyed attending musicals, sporting events and most any activity her children and grandchildren participated in. She loved her family, a good party, her trips to Aruba and Las Vegas. After her 20th trip to Aruba she was honored as an honorary Ambassador to Aruba. A lifelong member of Central United Methodist Church, she loved her church and the many friends there. She was an election Inspector for Broome County and had previously worked for Day Hollow Restaurant, H&R Block, Art Services, and as a "Temp" at IBM. She also was an Avon Lady for many years.
Funeral Services will be held Saturday, 10 a.m. from the Allen Memorial Home, 511-513 East Main Street, Endicott, with the Reverend Douglas Clark, Pastor of her church, officiating. Burial will be in Maine Cemetery, Maine, NY. The family will receive friends at the Allen Memorial Home, Friday from 4-7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please feel free to make a donation to a Children's Charity of your choice in memory of Barbara.



Barbara was my mother's cousin and was an important person in my life for as long as I can remember. Hers was one of the first faces that I would search for when we would go to our Carpenter-Davis family reunions. If I didn't see her, somehow I felt uneasy. Scanning the faces, I would search for someone with a big smile and an unusually huge photo album full to the brim with mostly photos of her little daughter, Debbie, in pretty party dresses. Barb was so happy that she had finally had her little girl—not to take away anything from her six amazing sons, mind you. It's just that she had been wanting to have at least one daughter in the mix, so she could dress her in lace and frills and now that she had her, she took every opportunity to show her off.

At the time, I was too young to understand that was what was happening. All I knew was that Debbie was so lucky to have all those neat clothes and I loved to hear the stories Barbara told about Debbie's latest accomplishments. I just always found myself wishing that I could do something special, too, (just one little thing!) but I couldn't come up with one single thing that I would call special that I could do. I guessed I wasn't special at all. My face must have showed that quite clearly because the next thing I knew, Barbara had wrapped her arms around me and was playing with my hair as she talked with me for the longest time, asking me about what I wanted to do when I got older. I confided in her that I was scared because everyone else seemed to know exactly what they wanted to do, but that I had no idea. I wanted to be a mommy most of all, I had told her, and to get married to someone like Dad. Just talking to her made me feel better—it always has.

I never forgot that day...or the many others that followed as she seemed to keep a special eye on me throughout the years—or at least I'd like to think she did. She was a very special lady, and I will miss her every day of the rest of my life here on this big old earth...until we meet again in Heaven.



Until next time...stay safe, stay well, and may God bless you all.

Cynde

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