Gertrude Quetsch “Trudy” Barry died peacefully on April 17, 2015 at home on the grounds of the St. Louis Priory, where she had lived since 1960.

Born July 20, 1928 in Oak Park, Illinois, the fourth of six children of Gertrude Shea and Leonard James Quetsch, she earned her B.A. in English from Barat College of the Sacred Heart and her M.A. from the University of Chicago. Then, while studying at Oxford, she met J. Brian Barry, a Royal Naval Officer, whom she married in 1954.

Trudy was preceded in death by her youngest son, Matthew in 1990, her beloved husband, Brian in 2010 and brothers Leonard, Bill, Jack and Jim. She is survived by her daughter Anne (Harry) Weber; sons Mark (Cynthia), John (Linda), Jamie (Carmen Santiago), Michael (Amanda) and Peter, who cared for her in her final years; eleven grandchildren; brother Dr. Richard Quetsch of Cedar Rapids, IA; sisters-in-law Patricia Quetsch of Lombard, IL and Mary-Alice Quetsch of McLean VA; her “seventh son” Eddy Harris, of France, and many nieces and nephews.

Throughout her life, she was a devout Roman Catholic. In college, she was president of her sodality, and was a true daughter of the Sacred Heart. She was a great lover of music and an enthusiastic member of the choir. One of her greatest honors was being made a confrater of the St. Louis Abbey.

Trudy volunteered tirelessly for a local soup kitchen, hospital, and other charities and championed civil rights, particularly equal housing. She had seven children in ten years and also cared for her father, Leonard Quetsch, in her home for the last decade of his life. She was brilliant, articulate, and well read and served as the president of the St. Louis Library Associates for several years.

After raising her children, she was Assistant to the Director of the Mark Twain Summer Institute. Trudy was an avid reader, writer, gardener, bridge player and gracious hostess. Her family and many friends will miss her letters, her charm, her laughter and the warmth of her home, which was an open and welcoming respite from the rest of the world.