96 | SEPTEMBER 14 • 2023 

OBITUARIES
OF BLESSED MEMORY

I

n the final days of her life, 
Barbara Nusbaum asked her 
grandson Zachary to grab 
a notebook so he could write 
down all the things she wanted 
him to know before she could no 
longer say them. 
“What she revealed to me is 
something that is obvious to 
all of us. She truly had a heart 
of gold,
” Zachary said at his 
grandmother’s funeral service. 
“She told me how sorry she feels 
inside, that there are some peo-
ple in the world who have to go 
through life without knowing 
what love is, because everybody 
is deserving of love. This is the 
idea that guided my grandma’s 
entire life.
” 
Barbara Nusbaum, 88, of 
Franklin, died after sunset on 
Aug. 29, 2023. 
Born in Detroit on Aug. 9, 
1935, Barbara was the beloved 
eldest child of the late Mary and 
late Donald Samuels. To her 
only sibling, Gerrie, Barbara was 
a protective, supportive older 
sister. 
Barbara attended Detroit’s 
Central High School and 
received a degree in social work 
from Wayne State University. 
Although she never actually 
used the degree on a professional 
level, she used it in her everyday 
life as the ultimate voluntary 
social worker at-large, selflessly 
providing advice and support to 
anyone and everyone.
Barbara met Irving Nusbaum 
on a blind date, and it did not 
take long for them to know they 
were a match made in heaven. 
The couple married a year later 
and went on to enjoy 60+ years 
of loving and devoted marriage 
until Irving’s death in November 
2018. They had two sons, Arthur 
and Robert.
Their parents complemented 
each other perfectly, Arthur and 

Robert said. Barbara served as 
the “quintessential, traditional 
helpmate and homemaker,
” 
freeing Irving, the president and 
public face of New York Carpet 
World, to scale the heights of 
business success. 
“She enabled my dad, who 
was working 12 hours a day 
when we were kids, to become 
extraordinarily successful — 
always encouraging him and 
always by his side,
” 
Robert said. 
Each enabled 
the other to do an 
enormous amount 
of good, becoming 
a longtime phil-
anthropic team of 
legend.
“When they 
became involved in 
philanthropy, they 
both together and 
individually achieved so much 
good for so many people and 
organizations,
” Robert added. 
“Not just by financial support, 
but by putting in the time and 
effort to get things done. They 
truly led by example.
” 
As well as their generous finan-
cial contributions, the Nusbaums 
gave of their time, supporting 
local leaders with their wisdom 
and willingness to help.
In the 1970s, the Nusbaums 
got involved in assisting Jewish 
Family Service (JFS) with the 
resettlement of Jewish refugees 
from the former Soviet Union. 
Many refugees immigrated to 
the United States, many of those 
to Detroit. 
Barbara was on the front lines 
of the effort. Because of her 
nurturing disposition, Barbara 
became close friends with many 
of the families she helped settle. 
For Jewish holiday dinners, there 
was a large Russian contingency 
for decades at the Nusbaum 

house. The Nusbaums also led 
the charge in buying bicycles 
for all of the refugee children to 
make them feel more at home.
Another organization Barbara 
got involved in very early on 
was JARC. She was involved for 
decades, and ultimately became 
president. Both the Mary and 
Donald Samuels home, named 
in honor of Barbara’s parents, 
and the Nusbaum Family Home, 
the nation’s first 
barrier-free, green 
group home for 
adults with develop-
mental disabilities, 
bear the Nusbaum 
legacy. 
The Nusbaums 
were benefactors for 
many other organi-
zations, including 
Yad Ezra, Yeshiva 
Beth Yehudah, the 
Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy 
Network and the Zekelman 
Holocaust Center. They were 
active members of Beth Abraham 
Hillel Moses (now Beth Ahm), 
where they had a great impact 
over the course of decades. 
Where Barbara really shined, 
though, was on an individual 
basis. 
“If there were a family or 
person in need of any help — 
whether it be financial, emo-
tional, advisory, etc. — and you 
were lucky enough to be led to 
my mother, your prayers would 
always be answered,
” Robert 
said. “She would either help you 
directly or guide you to a source 
that would. She didn’t do it for 
the fanfare. She just did it.
”
Along with the proverbial 
heart of gold, Barbara was literal-
ly the recipient of United Way of 
Southeastern Michigan’s Heart of 
Gold Award, which honors vol-
unteerism and community work.
“She was purely good,
” Robert 

said. “Her whole existence was 
for helping other people, and 
family.
”
It was indeed family at the 
core of Barbara’s love and devo-
tion. 
“
As a mother, she was simply 
the best,
” Robert said. “She was 
protective, possibly to a fault, 
when we were kids. But in all her 
roles as mother, grandmother, 
wife, sister, sister-in-law, aunt or 
friend, she was the go-to person 
for advice, consolation or plain 
meaningful conversation.
”
To Barbara and Irving, their 
grandchildren were the light of 
their lives. The adoration was 
mutual, with the grandchildren 
being a constant fixture in their 
home, having sleepovers and 
Shabbat dinners all the while 
soaking in their love, knowledge 
and wisdom. 
Barbara Nusbaum was the 
beloved wife of 61 years of the 
late Irving Nusbaum. Cherished 
mother of Arthur (Laurie 
Cowell) Nusbaum and Robert 
(Lori) Nusbaum. Proud grand-
mother of Caleb, Haley, Zachary, 
Jonathan and Bradley Nusbaum. 
Loving sister of Gerrie (Harold) 
Kalt. Dear sister-in-law of 
Frances Fetter. Devoted daugh-
ter of the late Mary and the late 
Donald Samuels and daughter-
in-law of the late Laura and the 
late Abraham Nusbaum. Also 
survived by Irene Zvonova, her 
devoted caregivers, Tore, Sierra, 
Evelyn, Jaimi and Rachel, and 
many loving nieces, nephews 
and a world of friends.
Interment was at Beth 
Abraham Cemetery. It is sug-
gested that those who wish to 
further honor the memory of 
Barbara Nusbaum may do so by 
making a contribution to JARC, 
Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy 
Network, JFS or a charity of one’s 
choice. 

A Heart of Gold

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Barbara Nusbaum

OBITUARIES
OF BLESSED MEMORY

