Obituary of Barbara Stahura

September 13, 2025

Barbara Stahura passed away on September 13 at Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital in Manhattan due to complications stemming from a yearlong battle with glioblastoma.  She was 72.

 Raised in Whitestone, she was the daughter of the late Leo and Sophie Stahura.  She was a graduate of Marymount Manhattan College and Columbia University, after which she began a nearly four-decade career in healthcare.  She held executive positions at many New York hospitals, her last as Senior Administrative Officer, Department of Surgery at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.

 She was a member of several professional organizations, served as a volunteer tour guide at Governor’s Island and had a leadership role at the Women’s Connection, an active social network of retired professional women.

 Barbara was a devoted follower of theater and dance, and could be found at museums and galleries when not at a performance.  Her intelligence, warmth and enthusiasm for life will be missed by all who knew her.

 Her survivors include Donald Santerre her husband of 39 years, nephews Matthew and Steven Stahura and their wives Carrie and Stefanie, Brian Beswick and Stephen Beswick and his wife Tina.  A brother-in-law, Dennis Beswick and a sister-in-law, Diana O’Neill and her husband Jeff also survive.  A younger brother, Steven Stahura, predeceased her.

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