Jose Barrie touched many
Columnist looks back at a 57-year love story after wife’s passing
On Nov. 20, my wife of 57 years, Jose, passed away.
We met at the Peterborough Teachers’ College (PTC) in 1961. From that time, much of our lives together were involved with sports.
I played for the college’s basketball team in the YMCA men’s league. Many of our early dates were Jose watching the game from the running track above the old “Y” gym.
I was in the PTC’s one-year program and she was in the two-year program.
The summer of 1962, after my year there, I played senior lacrosse for Brooklin. Peterborough had no senior team at that time. For that summer between her years at PTC, Jose returned to her home in Kingston to work on a Thousand Islands tour boat.
Brooklin played on the road Friday evenings and at home Saturdays.
Jose often took the bus from Kingston to Whitby on Friday evening.
Brooklin travelled by car in those days. I would leave my car in a plaza in Whitby when we left and be dropped off there after the road game. Jose would wait in an all-night restaurant until I returned.
On the Saturday, I would drive her from Peterborough to our home game in Brooklin then back to Kingston after the game as she had to work on Sunday.
We were married in June 1963, days after she graduated from PTC and I had finished my first year teaching at Westmount Public School. I had signed on to again run the summer lacrosse school in the Civic Arena.
The weekend after our wedding, the Peterborough peewee team was in a tournament in Virgil, near Niagara-on-the-Lake. Jose and I and a carload of players made the trip. This was her introduction to minor lacrosse.
Over the years, she attended many minor-lacrosse events, often acting as trainer or house mother between games.
She got to know many players who went on to star with Peterborough Minto and Mann Cup teams. In the past few days, many of those players have emailed me with their pleasant memories of her involvement with them in those days.
After our two children, Dave and Jennifer, started school, she regularly drove them to elementary school games. When they were involved in athletics in high school, she rarely missed a game.
The majority of our vacations in later years involved a sporting event.
When I started scouting hockey, Jose often rode along with me to games. At the time, she also became a season-ticket holder of the Petes and Lakers, which she held up to this year.
The Sabres allowed us to take our wives to some NHL drafts. She has been to arenas from Miami to Vancouver watching the drafting process.
In 1978, when I was assistant coach with the Canadian field lacrosse team, she accompanied the team to Manchester, England. Prior to leaving, she sprained her ankle. While over there, she attended the team practices and had her ankle taped by the trainer after all the players were on the field.
In the past few days, I have received emails from many of the players on that 1978 team with memories of her in England.
In 1990, she accompanied me to Perth, Australia, for the world lacrosse championships. One of the coaches has a business of selling Canada lacrosse merchandise. He set up a booth at the games and Jose often helped sell the products during the games.
Based on the number of condolences our family has received, Jose’s legacy is the way her smile and pleasant manner impressed others, especially those around sports.