Sheldon H Barr

Sheldon H. Barr passed away on Thursday, March 9. 

Born in the Bronx in 1948, Shelly graduated from City College of New York before moving to Boston to pursue an advanced degree. There, he met Virginia (Ginger) Salvito; they quickly became friends, then best friends, and then a partnership that would last for half a century. They were married in 1979.

After many years running a non-profit that served women and children in Southeastern Massachusetts, he worked with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Human Services and served as an ombudsman for participants in the state’s food stamp program.

Through many medical challenges over the last decade, he continued to work as much as he could, as hard as he could, because his work really mattered to him.

But what mattered most to Shelly was his wife and his two kids, Andy and Ari. They were the center of his universe, and he had boundless reserves of energy and patience and joy for them. There was a lot of humor in the Barr house, a fair amount of it tasteless, and even in his final days, his kids were usually able to get a laugh out of him.

Shelly was an accomplished amateur photographer, a merciless Scrabble competitor, and a devoted audiophile whose tastes ran the gamut from Bob Dylan to Bob Marley. He loved black-and-white cookies, crossword puzzles, and Jerry Orbach on Law and Order, and he never, ever missed the news.

His memory will remain a blessing to his wife, his kids, his daughter-in-law Sara, his granddaughter Rosie, his brother Marc, his sister-in-law Gretchen, his nephew Sasha, and all who loved him for his kindness and good humor. His family thanks the Laurel Ridge Rehabilitation and Skilled Care Center for taking such good care of him in his final years, and asks that, in lieu of flowers, Shelly’s admirers consider a donation to a charity of their choice that supports low-income women and children – the cause he spent so many years championing.

A private burial was held at the Gardens at Gethsemane on Sunday, March 11; a memorial will take place in the spring, with more details to follow.

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