Physicist Barbara Reider, Long Beach grad, dies at 58

Barbara Linn Reider, a 1969 graduate of Long Beach High School, balanced her work of being a physicist specializing in radiation safety and her passion as an artist who loved the sea.

The Scituate, Mass., resident died Nov. 18 after a three-year battle with lung cancer. Her husband David T. Reider, relatives, and childhood friends were by her side. She was 58.

Her sister Sandy Reider Brant, 50, of Long Beach, remembered Reider as an outgoing, vivacious woman with a love of water sports and adventure, and a gift for maintaining long friendships.

"No one I know had friendships like Barbara had," Brant said. "She was overcome by how much people were willing to do for her [during her illness]. We always told her it was because of all she did for other people."

Reider was the sibling who organized family reunions, helped her 13 nieces and nephews with science and art projects, and never forgot to send a card for any occasion, Brant said. "She just loved life, she loved doing things. She would just pick up and go anywhere for adventure."

Reider, born March 10, 1952, was the second-eldest of six siblings who grew up in Lido Beach. A high school swimmer and Town of Hempstead ocean lifeguard, she enjoyed wind surfing and scuba diving, swimming and sailing. She met her husband of almost 10 years on a trip to his native Australia. David, 56, changed his last name to hers.

Reider graduated from Rutgers University and the University of Colorado. She most recently inspected radiation facilities for compliance with government safety regulations. Her illness forced her to withdraw as a PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Massachusetts.

She was an accomplished printmaker. On her blog, Atomic Surf Arts, she wrote, "I have always been fascinated with sea life. . . . It should be no surprise that many of my images are of fish and sea shells, often fantasy sea critters straight out of my imagination."

Her art adorned the walls of family and friends, as well as her own home, where she often created her prints accompanied by her two beloved Cairn terriers, Dallas and Byron.

She is survived by her parents, Helen and Larry Reider of Lido Beach; siblings Larry, 60, of California; Dan, 55, of South Carolina; Linda Kenah, 53, of Virginia and Lori Londagin, 51 of Washington.

Reider was cremated after a service in Massachusetts on Saturday, but friends and family are invited to a memorial service this Saturday at People's Church of Long Beach at 11 a.m.