BARBARA

her story

Barbara “Barb” Allen Scuzzese was a writer, an artist, and a friend to many. She studied at Howard University and earned her degree in early childhood education from Chicago State University. She then spent more than 20 years in corporate communications in Bridgewater, New Jersey, at Hoechst Celanese and then Sanofi-Aventis, where she wrote for employees around the world and helped bring people together at global town halls and site events.

In the years after Sanofi, Barb followed her creative spirit. She crocheted, quilled, beaded, decoupaged and made mixed-media art, and she loved sharing it. She taught arts and crafts to seniors at the Plainfield Senior Citizens Center, worked with the Plainfield Arts Council, and was part of a wide circle of women artists and crafters who became her friends. She also gave her time to her community, including serving as board president of the Martin Luther King Youth Center.

Barb met Tony Scuzzese in the mid-1980s, and the two spent hours playing backgammon in the park. They shared 30 years of marriage, laughter and travel, from New Mexico to Miami Beach, along with a deep love of animals. Tony died in 2020.

Barb is survived by her brother, Keith Allen, and a loving extended family and many friends.