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Shelby’s 102-year-old Lee Barry still going strong By Alan Hodge It would just about fill an encyclopedia to chronicle all the adventurous, audacious, artistic, and innovative things that Shelby’s Lee Barry has packed into his life. To begin with, he’s 102 years old. That’s right, a century plus two years. “I was born in Newark, New Jersey on April 26, 1923,” Barry says. “My father John Barylewicz was from Poland and my mother Anna Karmazyn from Ukraine.” Barry’s keen intellect manifested itself from an early age, “When I started school I could only speak Polish,” he said. “My teacher Mrs. Roe helped me learn English.” Barry soon turned his boundless energy to work. “My first job was assembling phones for U.S. Instrument Co.,” he says. “My pay was 35 cents an hour.” When WWII came around, Barry joined the U.S. Navy. He served on three ships, the USS Independence, USS Hector, and USS Cebu. One of his jobs was gunnery fire control. During his
Lee Barry in his WWII US Navy uniform. 38 months service, he visited a number of places in the Pacific Theater. “It was very interesting,” Barry said, “I was at Tarawa, Eniwetok, the Philippines, and Leyte Gulf.” Barry has one of the souvenirs he got in the Philippines hanging on his home office walla wicked looking curved bolo knife. Perhaps the most memorable event in Barry’s life during his
Lee Barry of Shelby, 102, holding one of the 40 books he has penned. He’s also holding his trusty hiking staff.
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April 26th marked Lee Barry’s 102nd birthday. Happy birthday to him! Navy days was meeting his future wife Lois at a USO dance. They were married on December 19, 1945 and were devoted to one another for 73 years until she passed away in 2019. “We never had a serious argument the whole time,” Barry says. After the Navy, Barry attended college and earned an engineering degree. He eventually went to work for a company called Fasco. He worked in New Jersey then in Charlottesville, Va. He came to Shelby and opened the Fasco factory here in 1973. Barry’s days at Shelby Fasco formed a lot of friendships. “I would greet everyone at 5am,” he says. Another important category of Barry’s life revolves around the Appalachian Trail. The “AT” as it’s often called stretches over 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine. About 200 miles are in North Carolina. The hiking bug bit Barry at an early age. See BARRY, Page 2
Barry when he was 81 years old on the Appalachian Trail.
Fly-In & Open House Sat., June 7 th • 2025 • 10 until 2 Tour the Airport Facilities • JAARS offering Flights $ 45 Helicopter Rides
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Unicom: 122.8 Phone: 704-487-1161 FAA Safety Event • Vintage Car and Truck Display No Air Show Activities Vendor Food & Snowballs • Aircraft & Military Vehicles on Display • All Aircraft Fuel reduced 25¢ per Gallon