Barbara Claire Messer (nee Kane), 84, of South Plainfield passed away peacefully in her sleep on October 24, 2025 with her daughters by her side. She was predeceased by her parents, Dorothea and James Kane, as well as by her four siblings – John Kane, Margaret Katzgrau, James Kane and Dorothea Kane. She is also predeceased by the love of her life, her husband Robert (Bob) Messer. She is survived by her two daughters, Erica Lage (Juan) and Cheryl Kinsley (David), her four grandchildren, Sabrina, Keira, Lucas and Joshua and many nieces and nephews.

Barbara was born in Newark, NJ and lived there until she was married. She briefly lived in Roselle Park before settling in South Plainfield in 1971. She had worked at New Jersey Bell for 10 years before leaving to be a stay-at-home mom. She would go back to work part time at the Fifth Avenue Card Shop in Middlesex Mall for over 15 years and then went on to work at United Jersey Bank before she retired.

She was a devoted mother who showed up for all sports and events.  She was an Uber driver for her girls before Uber was a thing - shuttling them from gymnastics, softball, field hockey, basketball and track and field events.

She was active in the Edison Harley Owners Group and the Liberty Harley groups, specifically with the Ladies of Harley. She enjoyed going out on the motorcycle with Bob and taking trips to rallies as far away as Tennessee and New Hampshire. 

In recent years she and her good friend Linda Goetz had been active in the South Plainfield Senior Center. Her favorite was game day, when she played her beloved Left, Right, Center. She enjoyed going out to lunch with the neighborhood women and attending Senior Coffee at the local McDonalds. In recent years she and Linda would also watch her daughter’s adult kickball league games.

Barbara was known for having an incredible memory for dates, and was very accurate. She loved to watch Western movies. She was also a collector of numerous Precious Moments figurines, which started when Bob gifted her the first one in the early 1980s.

Visitation will be at the McCriskin-Gustafson Funeral Home, 2425 Plainfield Avenue, South Plainfield NJ 07080 on October 30, 2025 from 4-8pm.

Funeral services will begin at 9:30am in the funeral home followed by a Funeral Mass in Our Lady of Czestochowa RC Church, South Plainfield at 10:30am.

In lieu of flowers, donations to Barbara’s favorite charity, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, www.stjude.org, would be appreciated.