Obituary: Vivian Elaine (Greenwald) Barton

Vivian Elaine (Greenwald) Barton -  Sept 13, 2025 – December 1, 2022

Long-time Hauppauge/Smithtown resident Vivian Barton was 97 years young when she passed away from complications of Covid. Born in. and raised in the Rockaway area of Queens, she was the daughter of Louis and Bertha Greenwald.  She was the last surviving of six children. Her father died when Vivian was 11 years old. 

Married in Roslyn, NY to Lloyd Barton on February 13, 1966 they shared 49 years of happy marriage life until his untimely/unexpected passing in 2015. The Barton family moved from Jackson Heights (Queens) with her husband Lloyd and son Alan to their home in 1970

She had graduated from Textile High School in Manhattan in 1943 and lived in her own apartment in Sunnyside (Queens) until marriage.  She had earned her Associated Degree in college and worked as a Dental Assistant for about 20 years (initially in NYC before marriage and then after children were in school she returned to work) Working at a NYC Dental office for about 10 years, prior to her marriage, one of the patients was Hungarian born actress Zha Zha Gabor. When she returned to work, it was for Dr. Goldberg on East Main Street in Smithtown after her children were in school. 

A Life Member of Hadassah, she was very active in the Smithtown Chapter of Hadassah.  

A founding member of Temple Beth Chai  of Hauppauge (TBC) in 1972, she served as the president of Sisterhood and was an active TBC member for many years. Vivian had finally been able to have a Bas Mitzvah later in life (when she was in her 50’s) and became more religious as she got older. She participated in the Adult Bas Mitzvah Class in 1986 (as she was never able to have a Bas Mitzvah in her childhood) and was called to the Torah for her first-ever Aliyah at the age of 94 – it was something that she was very thrilled about and proud of. She enjoyed her “Monday Lunch Ladies Group” every week for more than 15 years. They met during the TBC Adult Ed class and started to gather for lunch following the weekly teaching and discussion time at the synagogue. Very involved with TBC Choir, singing at High Holiday Services and at most of the 42 years of Interfaith Thanksgiving services with local churches and TBC. 

Active in the Smithtown/Hauppauge community in the Homemakers Group, Vivian was a member of the Bowling Leagues, enjoyed playing tennis, bowling, swimming, and hiking as well as being involved with her sons’ PTA’s when they were growing up and attending Hauppauge schools.  She rode a bike with her sons on the back of her bike in “children’s bike seats” An Accomplished knitter and crocheter, she sewed clothing and hung wallpaper in her home and helped others with wallpapering in their homes as well.  An accomplished artist, she had embroidered artwork on the walls in her home. Favorite foods to make for her family included stuffed cabbage, potato lakes (potato pancakes), cabbage soup and she made her own bread and cakes “from scratch“ before it was “in style”  — all her recipes were from memory.

A lover of animals, especially dogs, she loved to walk the neighborhood to meet and talk with the neighbors.  She loved cooking (especially stews, soups, and Hungarian dishes) and plants – she had plants that she shared and especially loved roses and her flower garden. The kitchen was always full of plants that she grew from cutting and shared with friends, family, and neighbors. She brought back cactus from her cousin’s Moshav (near Kiryat Malachi) and has kept it alive for many years, starting in 1980 when she brought it back as a cutting

She enjoyed traveling and taking rides in the car all over Long Island. She traveled to Israel several times both for her son’s Bar Mitzvahs and for visits with family members in the Jerusalem area.  She traveled to Hungary with husband Lloyd to “visit the old country” where the family came from. Her famous saying was ”Celebrate the Good Times” and enjoyed a positive attitude and nature as viewed from the car windows (trees in bloom as well as when the leaves were turning color in the fall. She enjoyed going to Mets baseball games and Broadway shows, Israeli Art Museums in NYC as well as traveling to Los Angeles (California), Florida, and Seattle (Washington)

Her family in America was only her grandmother, who came to the US prior to the rise of Hitler.  All other family members – her uncle and then cousins in Israel had survived either World War II or the Holocaust – had  moved to Moshav Talmei Yeahi’el near Ashdod.  Vivian’s contact with her cousins started out as via being a pen pal as a child and this led to Vivian becoming a Zionist. 

Vivian Barton is survived by her sons Alan (of Hauppauge) and Jeffrey (of St. James), many nieces and nephews and friends. She was predeceased by her parents (Bertha and Louis Greenwald), her husband (Lloyd Barton), and four brothers and one sister.

Donations in memory of Vivian Barton can be made to Hadassah (Smithtown Chapter  c/o 54 Brilner Drive, Smithtown, NY 11787), the Guide Dog Foundation (371 N.Y. Rte25, Smithtown, NY 11787), Temple Beth Chai of Hauppauge (Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund c/o Temple Beth Chai, 870 Townline Road, Hauppauge, NY 11788),  Jewish National Fund for planting trees in Israel (c/o 54 Brilner Drive, Smithtown NY 11787; Please be sure to include the recipient’s name(s) and address), or the charity of your choice.