Eulogy, written and read by our cousin, Amy Bradshaw Sheridan
The past few days, we have been carefully considering the words we would say today for a man who had an undeniable fondness for words.
We are fortunate to have had thoughtful help from those who were so important to him. We appreciate the many contributions of those who have made treats, offered help and called.
Everyone from the fellow community members at the fireman’s pancake breakfast, to those at the lifelong senior center, to colleagues past and present at Cornell, have told us stories of their shared times with Barry.
We hope this community will continue to share with us more stories about times spent with Barry.
In particular we are thankful to Jim Roach for sending us the Shakespeare piece that is printed on the back of the memorial card with a note about how it was one of Barry’s favorites.
It also seems like Barry himself has been assisting the efforts. Part of preparation for this afternoon was locating an appropriate guest book.
Sure enough, one presented itself at Finger Lakes Reuse, one of Barry’s favorite places to shop. (You’ll notice the receipt is taped inside for 97 cents)
And all around us this week, as you would imagine, are Barry’s pyramids of reading material. It seems to me that every magazine or book or pamphlet has at least one sticky note marking a spot.
Wednesday night we picked up this Jesuit magazine from the top of a stack. (We did not know he even had a subscription.) We were curious to understand what he had found worthy of a lime green sticky note.
On that page, we discovered an excerpt from a homily given by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin in 1975. We’ve read it over and over the last few days and each time it reminds us more of the simple and rich life Barry lived. We want to share it with you.
Cardinal Bernardin said:
The thing we need most in our highly secularized and sophisticated world is the spirit of St. Francis.
What kind of spirit is this?
It is a spirit that puts God in the very center of life....
It is a spirit that derives a great deal of joy from the simple things in life....
It is a spirit that prompts us to love our neighbor...
Finally, it is a spirit that prompts us to be truthful, open persons of integrity at all times; to approach life with a simplicity that frequently we see only in small children....
When this is done, not only do we reconcile ourselves with God, but we also reconcile ourselves with our brothers and sisters.
Barry, we are grateful to have been part of the remarkable life you led.