.jpg)
Collette Barry-Rec, a longtime advocate for military service members and founder of the Care-Box Project, died in her home on Aug. 1.
A spokesman with the Lexington Police Department said that she died from a gunshot wound and the investigation into her death is ongoing.
She is being remembered by her friends for her “true patriotism and love for this country and our service men.”
“It’s tragic that we’ve lost such a patriot,” said Jan Lowry, who had known Barry-Rec for 10 years. “She truly loved this country and the people in it. It’s just a tragedy.”
Lowry met Barry-Rec through her quilting group, which partnered with Barry-Rec’s Care-Box project to make quilts for the families of local service men and women who were stationed overseas. The quilts would feature photos of the service man or woman incorporated into them. While the family received the quilts, their family members overseas would receive care boxes through Barry-Rec’s organization.
She started the Care-Box Project in 2004 after reading a letter to the editor in this newspaper where a local woman thanked students from Rockbridge County High School for sending letters, pictures and care packages to her son while he was deployed in Iraq. Barry-Rec was inspired to send care packages to service men and women overseas and in the nearly two decades since, has sent more than 2,800 boxes to local soldiers stationed around the world.
Lowry’s daughter was among the many recipients of one of these care boxes when she was stationed in South Korea. The box, Lowry recalled, didn’t only contain food and other essentials, but some fun things, including packages of balloons.
“Her platoon blew up all these balloons and stuffed them into one of the officers’ quarters,” Lowry recalled. “It was a relief from the situation. [Collette] didn’t only meet their physical needs, she’d try to meet their mental needs as well.”
Another recipient of a care box was Max Hopkins, nephew of Lexington resident Bob Hopkins, who received the package in July of 2006 when he was stationed in Iraq. He wrote a letter to Barry-Rec, thanking her for the package, calling it “a nice surprise” and telling her that he’d showed its contents to his fellow Marines and that “every item in the box made someone smile.”
Vietnam veteran Bob Hopkins, who first met Barry-Rec around the year 2000, shortly after he moved to Lexington, recalled that she would set up a booth at local events to try to help raise money for the care boxes and often volunteered to help with events put on by the local VFW.
“It just seemed like she was so dedicated to this that she wanted to give it everything she had,” he said. “She did a lot for the community, she did a lot for veterans, [and] she did a lot for patriotism.”
Hopkins recalled that Barry-Rec would attend Lexington’s Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies every year and would help hand out poppies, which are given as a symbol of remembrance of those who have served or given their life in service of the country. He recalled that she once had an encounter with a disabled veteran at Wal-mart while wearing a poppy, which he complimented her for. As a result of that encounter, he recalled, she wore a poppy every day for the rest of her life.
“We veterans and citizens were fortunate to have her for the past few decades,” he said in an email to The News-Gazette last week.
Her desire to help people didn’t stop with service members, Lowry recalled, noting that Barry-Rec would reach out to anyone who was in need.
“If she couldn’t fix the problem herself, she would seek out someone to help, and find solution to problems,” she said. “She was just a very giving, caring person.”
In recent years, Barry-Rec became more politically active, advocating for Lexington to join numerous localities across Virginia to become a Second Amendment sanctuary and protesting outside The Red Hen after the restaurant refused service to then White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She unsuccessfully sought a seat on the Lexington City Council in last fall’s election, telling The News-Gazette prior to the election that she felt that she “needed to do more to strengthen our community and our country.”
