Barry T. O’Hare, the father of Father Keith M. O’Hare, pastor of St. Louis Church in Alexandria, died Nov. 23 at the age 79 of surrounded by his family.
O’Hare was born June 19, 1943, in Queens, N.Y. He grew up on Long Island and attended Chaminade High School and St. John’s University, where he was elected president of the student body.
In 1968, he met Kathleen Elkins and the two married June 22, 1969, at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Brooklyn.
After working briefly for Chase Manhattan Bank and Allied Chemical, O’Hare went on to a distinguished 30-year career as a professional fund-raising executive. This career brought him and Kathy to Fairfax in 1977.
O’Hare worked first for the Martin J. Moran Company and at the end of his career for Brakeley, John Price Jones. He helped parishes, schools, hospitals, and other nonprofit institutions raise millions of dollars in support of their mission, and helped design the diocese’s original Bishop’s Lenten Appeal, according to Father O’Hare. Of the large number of clients he served, the one he was most proud of was in support of the Benedictine School for the Developmentally Disabled in Ridgely, Md.
His Catholic faith marked his life from the beginning to the end. He was an altar server as a boy. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus and an active lector at St. Leo the Great Church and St. Mary of Sorrows Church, both in Fairfax. He helped the Knights establish Marian Homes, group homes for developmentally disabled adults in Northern Virginia.
Barry and Kathy had four children. For 10 years, the O’Hares opened their home to unwed mothers and foster babies through Catholic Charities, and to young families in crisis.
After retiring due to health issues, he and Kathy moved to Greenville, S.C., in 2016. His last days were filled with grace, as Mass was celebrated at his bedside, with family gathered around him.
He is survived by his wife, Kathy; their children, Father O’Hare, Todd (Bridget), Shannon (Robert), and Sean; grandchildren Caitlin, Meghan, Kathryn, and Jacob; and brothers Kevin and Brian.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in Simpsonville, S.C., Nov. 28 at 10 a.m. Amemorial Mass will be celebrated at St. Louis Church in Alexandria Dec. 17 at 9:45 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the “Happy Hooves” (happyhooves.givingfuel.com/happy-hooves) therapeutic horse-riding program in South Carolina where Barry’s granddaughter, Meghan, works.
