Posted by Lars Joensson | 18-Aug-2023
Dear Barbara,
As your daily colleague and collaboration partner for many years at Bayer, Berlin, I love you for your comradeship and bravery.
Lars Jönsson
Barbara Ann Jaszewski
12-Jul-1958 - 10-Nov-2022
Posted by Laurene Redding | 07-Feb-2023
The tribute is such a fitting tribute to a beautiful, talented and compassionate leader and individual. She was a great informal coach and mentor for me. I loved working with her in our industry and miss her practical / pragmatic approaches to problems we collectively faced. She was a fierce force and she left an indelible mark.
Posted by Shan S | 06-Dec-2022
You will be remembered for your kindness, your generosity with your time/advice/outlooks but most importantly for the years of allowing me to grow up in your home and with your family. They were some of my very best years, and will always be remembered.
- The Renaissance Man Shan
Posted by Gina Jaszewski | 03-Dec-2022
While I never had an opportunity to really get to know my aunt Barbara well, the handful of moments we did spend together were significant.
What I remember most about Barbara was her intelligence, sophistication, worldliness and love for her family. Especially the dogs! She just had her life together in a way I will always admire.
When I was studying on student exchange in Poland, she was living in Germany at the time working for Bayer so she invited me to hop on the train and visit her.
I was nervous to see her because it had been quite some time since we’d seen one another, but she met me at the train station with a huge welcome hug and brought me on a world wind tour of Berlin.
We wrote our names on the Berlin Wall, ate amazing pizza they spun through the air over our heads, and even had drinks on a fake beach downtown.
She went so far as to purchase me tickets to the Lady Gaga concert happening while I was there and even set me up in a fancy hotel in Munich while she was away on business. The photo is her and I sitting next to the river in Berlin.
We met up again later on when the whole family flew to Poland to reconnect with their roots. We drove through the Polish countryside in a cramped rental and ate delicious homemade pierogies.
I do wish that we could have been closer because I feel like we have quite a lot in common, but I’m grateful for the time I did get to spend with her.
Barbara has inspired me to work hard and chase my dreams and there will forever be a small part of her with me.
Condolences to her family, especially Sean and Ben. ❤️
Posted by George Markham | 19-Nov-2022
Barb was a lovely, smart, intelligent, kind person, and a wonderful mother and life partner (for twenty years). She made me a much better human being. I’m so glad that she realized her dreams through travelling, competing in triathlons and building her lakefront cottage, and I’m grateful for the time we spent together and conversations we shared both during and after our marriage. We have many good friends and she has made so many more - a testament to her goodness. Her well-informed insights and considerate advice continue to help me and our sons to make wise decisions. I feel that she is still with us, and will be with all who knew her well, for the rest of our lives. I miss her terribly. Rest In Peace beautiful angel.
Posted by Diane Gauthier | 16-Nov-2022
Barb and her family were dear friends of mine when we lived on Emerson St. It seemed like either her kids were at my house, or my kids were at her house. I have tons of pictures of our kids together but only found one with Barb in it. How precious a picture it is. This was in my backyard on a cold winter’s day. We had an ice rink in our backyard and here you see Barb helping Ben to skate. Sarah and Sean look like pro skaters.
Posted by Sarah Gauthier | 16-Nov-2022
So many great memories of Barb from my childhood on Emerson Street. She was always working in her garden while my brother and I, and Ben and Sean ran around her yard. You can see her trying to get some work done in this picture, and sadly you can't see her face! She created a fun atmosphere for us kids. We were free to be imaginative and run around until it got dark and our moms told us it was time to come inside. She will be dearly missed.
Posted by Cindy Mattie | 15-Nov-2022
Got to know Barb while training for marathons , and then we were training for Wisconsin Ironman. Barb was a fabulous athlete. We were all jealous. Ha ! Many fun times visiting Barb in Berlin , at her cottage for the yearly girls weekend , going out for dinners, or just hanging out with friends. Will miss you dearly Barb. We will always have a toast to Barb.
Posted by Lisa Legault | 14-Nov-2022
We are so sorry to hear the sad news. My dad, Bob, had a real soft spot for Barb and talked very highly of her. My favourite memory that my dad kept was a letter Barb wrote from 1969. The few visits we had together were special and we instantly felt the closeness of family. Barb will be dearly missed by all her family out west.
Posted by David Wilson | 14-Nov-2022
Part 2 continued
A couple of weeks later I ran into Barb at a restaurant in Ottawa as she and her group were doing the Rideau Ride which was a 180 km ride from Ottawa to Kingston and then 180 km back. I asked her a couple of days later How did the ride go? and her response was "I crashed". It was kind of funny.
Barb and I kept in touch even when she moved to Berlin and worked at Bayer's Head Office and had global management responsibilities. She was brilliant and then she was off to Denmark for another engagement and I believe then had some other tie into a company in Switzerland. The only way to really keep in touch with her was through LinkedIn.
She was also never to busy to help friends or spread her enormous knowledge and good will. Two years ago I approached her about joining my start up's advisory board to consult on our go to market strategy and the pricing model for our point of care device. Thats when I learned she wasn't well and she was mostly grounded at her cottage but she was still never to busy to talk to me or more recently Kate our new CEO.
The world has truly lost a shining and guiding light. Barb was many things beyond a friend with a shining intellect and incredible empathy. She was also really funny.
She will be missed.