PORTLAND – Elaine Barry was a respected pediatric nurse at Maine Medical Center who had a passion for reading with her patients and helping them with their homework.
Toward the end of her 25-year nursing career, she took a leap of faith and enrolled in the University of Southern Maine to become a teacher. Ms. Barry went on to teach sixth grade at Waterboro Elementary School for 11 years.
Additional Photos
Though her careers as a licensed practical nurse and a teacher were a big part of her life, nothing was more important than her faith in God.
Ms. Barry, a devoted and active member of Holy Cross Church in South Portland who served on the parish council and taught CCD at its school, died on Wednesday. She was 68.
At Holy Cross Church, Ms. Barry served as a eucharistic minister and an acolyte and sang in the church choir. She was also president of a church group, Women’s Visitation Sodality, which led fundraising initiatives for the church and Holy Cross School.
Joan Guerrette, her friend from South Portland, said Friday that her faith was a part of everything she did in her life.
“She loved God. Her whole world revolved around God,” Guerrette said with a chuckle. “She was a hellion, sometimes.”
As a pediatric nurse at Maine Medical Center, she worked mostly with oncology patients. Guerrette said Ms. Barry called herself a “little people’s nurse.”
Guerrette compared her to Dr. Patch Adams, a famous doctor who inspired the 1998 hit movie “Patch Adams,” played by Robin Williams.
“She always used humor with the kids and she loved to play pranks,” her friend said. “The staff loved her and the nurses loved her, too. She brought a lot of joy to everyone who worked on the unit.”
Ms. Barry was known for her compassion and empathy for people who were sick and suffering the most. In 1977, she took care of a six-month-old baby who weighed 6 pounds and had pneumonia. Guerrette said the doctors believed the baby would die because she was so sick.
But Barry had faith.
“Elaine held the baby all night. She rocked her and prayed and talked to her,” Guerrette said. “That’s the power of prayer. … Today, (the baby) is 34 years old.”
Near the end of her nursing career, Ms. Barry discovered her passion for teaching. Soon after graduating from USM in 1989, she began teaching sixth grade at Waterboro Elementary School.
“She loved (teaching) and the students loved her,” Guerrette said. “She was always interested in each child as an individual.”
Ms. Barry retired in August of 2001 — about six months after she was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia.
Guerrette said she loved her life and lived it to the fullest.
“God loves us so much that he will always provide the graces for any trials or suffering that we may go through,” she said. “Elaine was blessed and she knew it. She believed that God would take care of her. … I’ll miss her laughter. She always brought light into the room and made people laugh in the hardest times. I’ll miss that and her love for her life.”
Staff Writer Melanie Creamer can be contacted at 791-6361 or at:
mcreamer@pressherald.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.