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Bobbe Bruckner Voelkel
Barbara Rose Bruckner Voelkel entered the world with her dancing shoes on and her singing voice poised. She was a lover of music, race-car driving, road trip adventures, and genealogy. Barbara had ...view moreBarbara Rose Bruckner Voelkel entered the world with her dancing shoes on and her singing voice poised. She was a lover of music, race-car driving, road trip adventures, and genealogy. Barbara had bachelor’s degrees in both mathematics and nuclear engineering. She worked as a computer programmer and was a proud Navy wife. She was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in October of 1998 and survived kidney cancer and breast cancer. Not content to brood over her misfortune, Bobbe started a weekend Parkinson’s support group. She said that doctors can diagnose this disease, proscribe medication to ease the symptoms but they cannot tell you how to live with it. She started this support group because there was not one that met on the weekend. The focus was to give information to help parkinsonions and their caregivers deal with this disease on a daily basis. Bobbe, her husband Ron and the members of the Hampton Roads chapter of the American Parkinson’s Disease Association (APDA-HR), organized and held the first three Parkinson’s Walks in Virginia Beach. These continue today under the name of the Optimism Walk every April at the oceanfront in Virginia Beach. Bobbe always had a positive attitude and outlook on life no matter what crosses she had to bear. She made a large sign prominently displayed in her home office that read “DON’T TELL GOD HOW BIG YOUR STORM IS, TELL YOUR STORM HOW BIG YOUR GOD IS”. Her interest in genealogy gave the Bruckner and Voelkel families a great blessing in tracing our heritage. She was an amazing woman whose spiritual beauty exceeded her physical beauty. I miss her very much.view less