Laura “Toots” Barry, died at home spending time with her 5 children/spouses, 13 grandchildren and 29 great grandchildren. Laura was married to Raymond Barry until his death 1978.

The Barry family includes Pat & Keith May, Sue & Kurt Sonderegger, Kate & Larry Culhane, Kevin & Joy Barry, Mary & John Barry-Magsamen.

A private service for family members will be held Friday June 23rd at 10:00 at Lincoln Memorial Funeral Home 6800 So. 14th ST. . A viewing will be held prior to services from 9-10 am.

The Barry family would like to invite friends to join us in a toast & a song Friday 6/23 at Barry’s Bar & Grill at 5:00 pm. Dreaming of the “big city” and becoming a singer, Laura “Toots” moved from rural Nebraska to Lincoln where she enlisted the help of a UNL music professor and recorded a single with the 2 songs, “Don’t be a Baby Baby” and “I don’t know why I love you like I do”.

Laura met Raymond Barry shortly after moving to Lincoln. After dating every day for 3 months, Ray and Laura married. They worked together to realize Ray’s dream of having his own bar and opened Barry’s Tavern in 1959. Ray and Laura built a unique bar business that included a huge group of friends that spanned 30 years.

Baseball & softball teams, bowling teams, shuffle board and darts, there wasn’t a sport that wasn’t sponsored by Barry’s. From the “regulars” to football Saturday die hards, if you stepped in Barry’s you wanted to be a part of the Barry’s Tavern Family.

Laura’s “hobby” outside of raising kids, tending bar, traveling & making friends, was bowling. She bowled in a league every year with a long line of female friends for 35+ years, making the National Championships and traveling across the U.S. If you were fortunate enough to go on a “Barry’s trip” whether it was to watch the KC Royals or Chiefs, or the Huskers at a Bowl game, you experienced the fun that was Laura Barry. The luggage compartment below the tour bus filled with “refreshments”, killer pitch games, liars’ poker and pitching quarters made the trip to Kansas City one of kind adventures, and the games were just a small part of the experience.

Laura, LB, Toots, was a surrogate mom, friend and confidant to hundreds over the years. If you met her you loved her. Here’s to Laura Gayle and a life well lived...