Obituary of D. Barry Marchand

It is with great sadness that we, Josette, Brian and Claudia, the children of Barry Marchand, announce his passing on April 25, 2021 at home, surrounded by his family. He was born on the 7th day of the 7th month and he thought that was pretty cool as 7 x 7= 49, which was the year of his birth, 1949. Dad was welcomed into heaven by his mother Jean, his father Francis, his father-in-law Lubin, his brothers-in-law Alcide, Gordon and Vernon, his sister-in-law Lucy and numerous friends and family. He leaves behind our mother Louise, who has been the rock of our family all of our lives and, especially in the last five years. We want to thank her for taking such good care of Dad. He also leaves behind his siblings, Dr. Debbie Marchand who has taken such great care of him, and Dr. Richard Marchand who visited every week, recollecting on their lives and always bringing his favourite treats. He also leaves to mourn his daughter-in-law, Samantha Bradley whom Dad readily welcomed into our lives and his son-in-law, Don Fougère who was like a son to him and who supported him in all his ‘projects’, especially over the last 5 years; his grandchildren of whom he was so very proud: Laurier, Isabelle, Francis and Anne; his brothers and sisters-in-law Charles, Gloria, Idella, Sylvia, Magdalen, Anne and Marc. Dad also leaves behind his niece Haley Marchand and nephew Jonathan Marchand as well as so many special nieces and nephews on our Madouesse side. Dad was born at St. Martha’s hospital in Antigonish but he was a Louisdaler through and through. Although he lived in Petit de Grat for most of his life, he was always loyal to his home village. Like Mom would say “you can take the man out of Louisdale, but you can’t take Louisdale out of the man.” He studied at St. F.X and Teacher’s College before becoming a phys-ed teacher in our community. He taught in many schools in Richmond County and often shared with us fond memories of colleagues and of students. Dad was an extraordinary athlete, but he LOVED Baseball. It was his passion. He played with teams in Louisdale, St.Peter’s and Red Caps among others. He loved it so much that he would hitchhike to his games in Sydney as a young man and that he would be late for his own wedding to finish a game. It was his home away from home, his passion. Endless hours of mowing, screening the infield or general repairs, even for games he was not playing. We all knew we were watching a special athlete when he played, with athletic feats beyond our comprehension. People traveled to see him play just to get a glimpse of a towering home run or to see him pitch. To an entire generation he was our superhero, strong, kind and incredible. He made the most difficult things look easy, like when he hit home runs with what seemed like an effortless swing. He was who we all wanted to be like, play like and grow up to be. This was especially important to Brian, Don and Laurier (his grandson) who had the privilege to play on the same team as him. To be able to share his love of the game with these three was his greatest joy. If you listen, you can still hear the cuts of the ice when he played hockey, or remember the time he beat the bowling champion and refused to play him again and all the pool games at the Legion. If you wondered how good he was, you just had to ask him. We understand many of you know Barry the teacher and the baseball player, but Dad was so much more. Dad was a man who believed in people and community. If you had a satellite dish in the 80’s and 90’s, he was probably the person you would call. A lover of technology, he was always up-to-date on the newest trends or toys (as he liked to call it). That meant that many people depended on him to come fix their technological problems and he was always very happy to help. A way to bring together both his love of community and technology was when he started the Lundrigan Lane Light Up. He loved to see the reactions of families as they came to see the display and loved to argue with Joel that his side was better! Dad liked to build structures. However, the most influential structure that he helped build was the baseball field in Petit de Grat. This will be his legacy. He built that field so everyone would have a beautiful place to play. We grew up in a world we thought all kids knew. We traveled all over to play games and sports, and the car was packed with other kids too. We grew up on ball fields, arenas and golf courses. It didn’t matter what we wanted to do, Dad encouraged us to be great at it. If you ever drove with Dad in the car, you could be sure that there would be “an elephant on the road” or you would be singing songs at the top of your lungs. He made us discover so many new things and become curious about the world around us. If you were lucky to see Dad around kids, you would see just how great of a person he was. He was a kid at heart. He bought lunches, gave drives and made you feel like you could accomplish things. We know he held us all to high standards. He wasn’t afraid to tell anyone what he thought. We feel that many of you share our sadness. Above all, it was the little things that our dad did that made a difference in our lives. He taught us to cartwheel, to play hockey, to love music, to laugh a lot, to argue about EVERYTHING, to love movies, to be good athletes, to appreciate good quality sound in any situation, to love CBC radio and especially, to contribute to our community. And we thought that these were “normal” things. By making us believe that things were “normal”, he made our lives extraordinary. We would like to thank all of the staff in the dialysis department at the Strait Regional Hospital, as well as Dr. Hewlett, who have all gone above and beyond to make him comfortable; our family and friends who have supported us through this last journey. We understand that we cannot gather right now and, in lieu of a wake, we would be honoured if you would share a story about our Dad so that we can see him through your eyes. Since our current reality will not allow us to gather, we will have a celebration of life sometime this summer. A Private family graveside service will be held on Friday, June 11th at 4pm in Star of the Sea Cemetery, Petit de Grat. Should you choose to make a donation in Dad’s memory, they can be made to the Pay It Forward - Angel Fund or Strait Richmond Health Care Foundation Dialysis Unit.