Barbara Mowery Desiderati, 86, of Kensington, Maryland, died peacefully in her sleep on April 21, 2025 at her daughter’s home in Ruther Glen, Virginia, where she was receiving hospice care.

She was born on January 18, 1939, in Lewistown, Pennsylvania,and was raised by her paternal aunt, Barbara “Babe,” and her uncle, Harry Mowery, on Pine Street in Lewistown. Barbara attended boarding school at St. Cyril’s Academy in Danville. St. Cyril’s was established in 1922 by the Sisters of Cyril and Methodius to serve the Slovak immigrants in eastern Pennsylvania. The curriculum included English, history, math, science, and four languages, including Slovak. Students were required to complete four years of Latin. Other courses offered were bookkeeping, typing, and manners. An old Slovak proverb, “When a Slovak girl is around, you will surely hear a song,” instilled in Barbara a love of singing and music. She sang in choirs into her adult years and played the piano. Barbara friendships from St. Cyril’s would be maintained for years, and she would attend reunions and keep up with classmates over the years.

Barbara then attended Mount Aloysius College in Cresson, Pennsylvania, earning an Associate’s Degree as a medical secretary. She returned to Lewistown, working for Dr. Sherman for several years before relocating to Washington, D.C., becoming employed at Columbia Hospital for Women. After her daughter was born, she became a homemaker and spent years volunteering at both Holy Cross Elementary and the Academy of the Holy Cross, where her daughter attended school. Barbara taught science, did secretarial work, and led her daughter’s Girl Scout troops over the years. She and her dearest friend, Anne, were inseparable; they created choir robes and costumes for Christmas pageants and lent their talents for whatever else was needed. Every year in science class, Barbara would hatch eggs at the elementary school and transport all the chicks to her cousin’s farm in Pennsylvania.

Eventually, Barbara worked as an administrative assistant at the Undersea Medical Society in Bethesda, Maryland, a non-profit dedicated to studying hyperbaric medicine. Throughout her tenure at this organization, Barbara traveled to Greece and Japan, met Jacque Cousteau, and was a contributing author to the book, “A Pictorial History of Diving.” One of her proudest achievements was that this book was given a number in the Library of Congress.

In her later years, Barbara and Anne often spent months in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, running Anne’s brother’s antique store and hosting parties for the community of friends they built there.

Barbara is survived by her husband of 62 years, Frank W. Desiderati, her daughter, Christine Desiderati (Tommy Buckland) of Ruther Glen, Virginia; two grandchildren, Devin Shunk of Whitefish, Montana, and Natalie Desiderati of Richmond, Virginia, and one great-granddaughter, Aster Stubbs of Richmond, Virginia.

Barbara will be interred in a private ceremony in Juniata Memorial Park in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, surrounded by friends and family members who have passed before, including her troupe of Miniature Schnauzers – Charlie, Roxanne, Oscar, and Willie. Barbara lived exuberantly, thrived best amongst a crowd, and would easily have been best described as a social butterfly. Barbara loved to travel but fell short of achieving her lifelong dream of seeing Scotland. Barbara will achieve this dream between her daughter and grandchildren and have her ashes thoughtfully spread in places dear to their hearts from Montana, Virginia, Japan and Scotland in the upcoming year. We will best remember Barbara as St. Augustine had once said, “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”