May Niehoff Barrick

May Niehoff Barrick passed away peacefully on April 11, 2012 at her home at the Whitcomb in St. Joseph. May was born March 19, 1919 in St. Louis, Missouri. She attended nursing school in St. Louis, and was proud of the years she spent there working as an R.N. for the Visiting Nurses Association, serving diverse neighborhoods and lobbying for better health care for the poor. May married her childhood sweetheart, Eddie Miller, and gave birth to Sandy, the first of her three children. Eddie was killed in World War II, and after three painful years, May found love again with a returning soldier, Len Niehoff. Their marriage was blessed by the birth of her daughter, Kate, and son, Len. The family relocated to the Detroit area where, as her children grew older, May took on a new kind of nursing. She relished her many years working as a psychiatric nurse at Hawthorn Center, a school for children and teens with special needs. May not only provided exceptional care for her identified patients, but her nurse’s office became a place of comfort for teachers, therapists, and administrative staff. Following retirement and the death of her husband, Len, May focused on family, investing in the stock market, and her volunteer work chairing the Board of Directors of Spaulding, an organization that found adoptive homes for older children in the foster care system. During that time she met John Ryan, a former drummer from the big band era. John and May enjoyed nine years together; a highlight was dancing at senior centers three times each week. After John’s death, May moved to the Whitcomb in St. Joseph to be closer to Sandy and her husband Larry. Within a year, she met and fell in love with fellow Whitcomb resident Ed Barrick. Ed and May married, and shared seven years of loving companionship. Since Ed’s death three years ago, May has been blessed with a nurturing caregiver, Jennifer Corley, and with the support of many exceptional members of the staff at the Whitcomb. Throughout her life, May cared deeply about social justice and the importance of bringing people together to challenge stereotypes and prejudice. She worked with her father in the early 1940s to set up an interfaith panel – a Methodist minister, a Catholic priest, and a Jewish rabbi – hoping to build bridges between the faith communities. In the early 1950s May fought against significant opposition and brought together black and white Sunday schools so that the children in highly segregated St. Louis could begin to know one another. After relocating to the Detroit area May read a newspaper story about a young black firefighter who was struggling to put together an after-school basketball league in the inner city. She quietly sent personal checks each month for five years to fund this project. At the end of each season the May Niehoff Sportsmanship Award continues to be awarded to the team with the most generous spirit. May was very supportive of equal rights for LGBT folks and, with warmth and enthusiasm, attended the wedding of her daughter Kate and her life partner Eileen, more than twenty-five years ago. She was proud of her son Len’s work as an Ethics professor at the University of Michigan Law School and of his participation as a member of the legal team that took the U of M Affirmative Action case to the Supreme Court. May delighted in hearing about Sandy and Larry’s work with the All God’s Children Community Choir, the Calling All Colors program, and PFLAG (Parents, friends, and family of lesbians and gays). May is survived by her children, Sandy (Larry) Feldman of Lakeside, Kate Wade (Eileen Brandies) of Royal Oak and Cedar Island, Canada, and Len (Lisa) Niehoff of Chelsea; her grandchildren Jeremy (Jessica) Powell, Ben Powell, Liam Feldman, and Jonah Feldman; and her great-grandchildren Evan Niehoff, JJ Niehoff, Natalie Wilson, and Jackson Powell. May was preceded in death by her parents, Bill and Sylvia Gordon; her brother, Bill Gordon; her three husbands, Eddie Miller, Len Niehoff, and Ed Barrick; her special companion, John Ryan; and her grandson, Marc Wade. A Celebration of May’s Life will be held at Starks and Menchinger Chapel, 2650 Niles Road, St. Joseph, at 3 pm, on Saturday, April 14th. The family will be available for visitation an hour prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to the All God’s Children Community Choir or Relay for Life.