Updated June 5, 2024 at 10:22 a.m. to include a quote from BSYA President Lisa Aurichio.
An American trailblazer for women in the supply chain and logistics industry, Barbara Spector Yeninas, of Holmdel, New Jersey, died Friday at the age of 84.
She was the founder of the maritime, supply chain and logistics marketing communications agency BSY Associates. According to a news release from the company regarding her death, the Middletown, New Jersey-based business celebrated its 50th anniversary this year.
“She will long be remembered as a trailblazer who paved the way for women in the male-dominated maritime industry,” the release states.
Barbara Spector was born on March 21, 1940, in the Bronx, New York, to Rose Olenberg Spector and Robert Spector. She moved with her family to Lakewood, New Jersey, where she skipped two grades and graduated high school at the age of 16.
She discovered her love of journalism while attending New York University, where she wrote an editorial column, “Barb Wire.”
Her first professional position was with the Asbury Park Press, but she quickly moved to its competitor, the Newark Evening News, as a general assignment reporter. While covering the port-driven city, she became immersed in the maritime sector at a time when maritime reporting was almost nonexistent.
After some encouragement by her colleagues to develop a maritime beat for the paper, she became Newark Evening News’ first maritime editor – a move that would launch her career and lifetime love affair with the industry. At Newark Evening News, she would meet her future husband, Joseph Yeninas, an editorial cartoonist and art director at the paper. The two were married in December 1971. In 1974, the pioneering journalist created Barbara Spector Yeninas Associates.
“Barbara’s integrity, tenacity, and drive were the key to her success at a moment when women were rarely seen on the docks,” the release states. “It wasn’t long before she established an illustrious, international list of clients, which included Pacific Australia Container Express Line (PACE), Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine Corp., Port of Hamburg, Horizon Lines, Global Terminals, INTTRA and Maher Terminals.”
Yeninas served as executive director for the Containerization & Intermodal Institute for 35 years and as executive director of NY/NJ Foreign Freight Forwarders and Brokers Association for 18 years. And for almost five decades, she served as event coordinator for the United Seamen’s Service’s Admiral of the Ocean Sea Awards, an annual black-tie gala that celebrated the leaders of maritime.
Over the course of her lifetime, she and her company won many creative advertising and marketing communications awards.
“But what Barbara will be remembered for most of all was her deep commitment to helping, caring for, and lifting those around her,” the press release states. “She was always thinking of others.”
As good friend and colleague Joe Bonney said, “She just made everyone better.”
BSYA President Lisa Aurichio was hired by Barbara 30 years ago.
“Barbara was an amazing friend and mentor to me,” Aurichio said in an emailed statement to FreightWaves. “She was filled with ideas and insight about work, but she could write a book with tips about life. She was outgoing, vivacious, very funny and wanted to get the most out of the life she was given. She dedicated many hours to her thriving business but was also committed to creating experiences with family and friends, which included everything from Broadway to concerts to the trendiest restaurants and, of course, a lot of travel.”
Aurichio recalled a time not long after she started at BSYA when she was nervous about her first trip to the Port of Hamburg.
“She sat me down to go over a few things,” Aurichio said. “With my notebook in hand, I jotted down her tips and tricks to successful international travel: 1) add at least one day before or after the trip to enjoy the city; 2) invest in a black dress that can be rolled into my purse in case your luggage gets lost; 3) befriend a hairdresser who could squeeze you in for a blowout no matter what. Barbara definitely taught me to enjoy the places that work brings me and to appreciate the power of a timeless (wrinkle free) black dress and a good blowout.”
She was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph, and her siblings Stanley and Cheryl Spector. She was the mother of Joanna Saltz of Bernardsville, New Jersey, and Laura Newby of Granite Bay, California, and mother-in-law of Scott Saltz and Andy Newby. She had seven grandchildren: Spencer, Teddy and Everett Saltz and Zadie, Jones, Isabel and Sam Newby. She is survived by siblings Martin Spector, Alan Spector and his wife, Sarah, and Susie Hauptman and her husband, Cliff.
Services will be held Sunday at Holmdel Funeral Home, 26 South Holmdel Road, in Holmdel, New Jersey, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with eulogies at noon. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of her sister Cheryl or to another charity.