ESTEVAN — Barry O’Handley is being remembered in the Estevan area for his love of family, business, the community, baseball and more.
O’Handley died on Oct. 11 at the age of 76 after a battle with pulmonary fibrosis in his lungs. His son Barry Jr. (BJ) said he remembers so many things about his father; chief among them were his sense of humour and dedication to his family.
“He was obsessed with family and making sure everybody was fine right up until the very end. He loved his kids, his wife and all of his good friends,” BJ said in an interview with SaskToday.
In the community, BJ said his father sat on the Estevan Business Improvement District (BID) for over 30 years, remaining on BID until a few months ago when he could no longer attend the meetings.
“He got a lot of stuff done and accomplished while he was doing it, so it was really important to him, too,” said BJ.
As for his business interests, Barry started with Barry’s Stereo Village in the 1200-block of Fourth Street in 1976 – the year before BJ was born. The business was open until the late 1980s.
“He loved that place,” recalled BJ. “That was one of his favourite things. He used to have the guys over on Thursday nights, and they would ‘take stock’, is what they called it, but it was more like having drinks and socializing in the back and stuff on Thursday nights.”
Anywhere from 10-30 people showed up for the sessions, BJ said.
Then Barry shifted to Econo Furniture and Sound, also on Fourth, managing the store with his wife Patricia for Rick Horsman.
“Once the store (Econo) got really busy, he flipped over to help mom with the accounting side of that. He was a number-cruncher guy who also worked in a bank in his very first job when he lived in Regina.”
Barry and Pat opened Room by Room Furniture in the early 2000s; the business remains open at its original location at the intersection of Sixth Street and 13th Avenue and is run by the O’Handleys’ daughter.
Barry also had Premium Auto Transfer, a small vehicle dealership, for several years, and sold vehicles for Estevan’s General Motors dealership.
BJ said his father had a gift for working with, caring for and talking to people.
“It didn’t matter who you were, he’d talk to you and find out what you’re up to and what’s going on. That was some of the nice things that people had said on different sites and on his obit, is that he always had time to say hi to you, and it’s not something that you find too much anymore. People would rather walk by these days and put their head down than stop, say ‘Hi, how are you?’ and take 10 minutes for you.”
BJ remembers it sometimes took 30 minutes to get to their seats at an Estevan Bruins’ game because his father stopped to talk to everybody.
“He was just a super social guy. That was an important thing to him, that people felt comfortable and people felt like he cared,” said O’Handley.
Barry loved sports, cheering for the Bruins in hockey and the Saskatchewan Roughriders in football, but his primary love was baseball, and not just the Toronto Blue Jays, either. He loved local minor baseball, which runs in the family, BJ said.
Barry’s father Allan had a passion for the sport and the O’Handley Diamond at Mel Murray Cactus Park is named for Allan O’Handley.
“He was always proud of his dad and how much ball stuff he did around town, too,” he said.
BJ added he often gets asked if the diamond is named for Barry or Allan, but both were very dedicated to the sport and volunteered a lot of time.
As for BJ, he loved playing the sport for years and ran a senior baseball team.
Since Barry’s death, BJ said the family has had a lot of people approach them and share their memories. The City of Estevan paid tribute to Barry on its Facebook page, and the Bruins recognized him before the start of their home game on Oct. 18.
“I think the biggest thing is, all the stuff he did, he never did it for the accolades. He did it because he wanted the place to be a better place,” said BJ.
Barry O’Handley is survived by his wife, children B.J., Pam McLellan and Brenna Hanson, five grandchildren, and his in-laws, other family members and close friends. A celebration of life was held Oct. 17 at St. Paul’s United Church.
