Barbara Sarfatti Lindenman Rotker

Barbara Sarfatti Lindenman Rotker passed away on January 22, 2021. Born on February 5, 1940 in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, NY, she was raised in the Laurelton section of Queens, NY where she lived a very full and happy life with her parents, Samuel (Sam) and Esther (Teddy) Sarfatti, née Alboher and her older brother Emanuel (Manny) Sarfatti, who preceded her in death. Her lifelong friends refer to her as a real princess as she was certainly a daddy’s girl and her parents did everything to give her the best life possible.

Those who were lucky enough to know our mom, knew that she was fascinated with celebrities. Her attraction to movie stars began when she was a very young girl; cutting out pictures of famous actresses from magazines like Photoplay. As a teenager she was serenaded by 1950’s pop idol Johnnie Ray at a New York nightclub. Later in life, she enjoyed acting at the local theatrical venue in Port Jervis, NY when she wasn’t helping out her dad at Regal Lingerie, his factory. She also worked part-time in the Borscht Belt at the Raleigh hotel in the Catskills; another opportunity to see the famous talents of that long gone era.

Having two children by the time she was 21 was not that unusual back then. Being closer in age to her children than most of our friends’ parents were to their kids made it easier for her to relate to us. That’s why she was liked by our friends and our friends liked her. She had the reputation of being the “cool” mom by our friends. She is survived by her sons, Steven (Stevie) Lindenman and his wife Patti Spillers Lindenman, and Barry Lindenman and his wife, Sharon Wells Lindenman. She was also survived by her two granddaughters, and three great-grandchildren.

Mom loved to laugh and thank God for that because she was blessed with one of those laughs that were quite infectious. It was a very high pitched, unusual laugh. You would start laughing just by hearing her laugh.

She remarried and moved to Las Vegas in 1982, which was heaven for her where the possibility of celebrity encounters was much higher than when she lived in Charlotte. She was fortunate to have worked for Merck Pharmaceuticals who had SAG (the Screen Actors Guild) as one of their clients. She would be able to talk and interact with a lot of the old celebrities that she has been so fond of in years previous.

Over the years, she could relive in great detail her encounters with such celebrities like meeting Marilyn Monroe at a Broadway play or her meeting people like Debbie Reynolds, Buddy Hackett and Rip Taylor while living in Vegas. Among the other famous people that she could tell a true story about meeting over the years were folks like actors Charlton Heston and Richard Kiley, singer Anthony Newly and comedian Alan King. But by far, her favorite stories of celebrity encounters were her many chance (and even planned) meetings with her all-time favorite celebrity, Jerry Lewis, who she adored. She loved to relive the stories of her meeting various celebrities during her life.

Always a fan of opera, we were able to accommodate her love of Andrea Bocelli by getting her tickets to see him perform live twice during her final years after moving back to Charlotte after living in Las Vegas for 35 years following the death of her husband.

Even though she was enamored with movie stars and celebrities, above all else, she loved her children most of all. They were the real stars in her life story.

For most her life, our mom’s incredible memory served as a great reference book for the family in terms of being able to recall in great detail, names, places, dates and facts when reminiscing about events through various family photo albums. Sadly though, it was her final bout with Alzheimer's that took away this G-d given gift. She will always be remembered by those who met and loved her by her smile and her incredible laugh.