Obituary

By Gayle Ronan Sims
Inquirer Staff Writer
Jan 13, 2004

Ida Tobotsnick Barg, 96, who as a young woman dreamed of being a doctor but instead became one of the first female pharmacists in the city and eventually a successful real estate developer, died at her Center City home Saturday.

Born in Lithuania, Mrs. Barg came to South Philadelphia with her family when she was 3. After graduating from South Philadelphia High School for Girls when she was 15, she attended Temple University Pharmacy School and was the only woman graduate in the Class of 1924.

After she graduated, Mrs. Barg and her brother opened a pharmacy at 24th and Clearfield Streets in the Swampoodle section of North Philadelphia, putting to rest her dream of becoming a doctor.

She was young and blond in an era when pills were ground and compounded with mortar and pestle. Several customers called police after seeing her work in the pharmacy to mistakenly report that a woman was making and selling drugs illegally, her family said.

Mrs. Barg continued to work as a pharmacist after marrying Joseph Barg in 1932. When her daughter was born in 1937, she took a break to raise her child.

Her daughter, Gloria Ross, a former mathematician and computer expert who now owns the Center City real estate firm G.B. Levin Associates, said her mother taught her that she was capable of accomplishing anything.

Later in life, Mrs. Barg worked as a real estate broker in her daughter's firm.

When the firm bought the building at 1420 Walnut St. in 1984, John Binswanger, the Realtor who represented the seller, said Mrs. Barg was the smartest person in the organization.

Mrs. Barg, who worked as a real estate developer into her 80s, broke her hip after falling on ice eight years ago. "That did not stop her," her daughter said. It was not long before she was back at work.

"My mother was so sharp that she caught a bookkeeper in the firm embezzling funds," Ross said.
In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Barg is survived by two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Burial was yesterday in Montefiore Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to Congregation Beth Judah, 700 N. Swarthmore Ave., Ventnor, N.J. 08406.