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Diane Barry: At Ease With Her Life

 

Diane Barry loved growing up in Pompton Lakes, N.J., and dreamed about returning there someday, her cousin Maureen O'Keefe said. The families of Mrs. Barry and Miss O'Keefe lived in one big house, and the children would entertain themselves in the winter by baking potatoes over open fires, and in the summer by splashing in the town swimming hole "till our lips turned blue," Miss O'Keefe said.

When her cousin married Edmund Barry, she moved to Staten Island, raised three children and attended every Irish sing-along that came along. Mrs. Barry also taught first-graders every Sunday at the Holy Rosary School of Religion. During the week, she worked as an administrative assistant at Aon, the insurer.

On July 11, to celebrate her turning 60, family members treated her to lunch at Windows on the World. "It was a beautiful day, and you could see for miles," said Miss O'Keefe, who said the conversation turned to the 1993 bombing of the trade center. "I said, 'Oh my goodness, Diane. This building is so big. Aren't you afraid?"'

She said her cousin calmly replied, "I'm not afraid. When God is ready to take you, he'll take you. "

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From "Profiles in Grief" of The New York Times