After my husband died I was kind of lost. Father Barry gave me the faith to go on.”

St. Mary’s educator Sue Ann Gale

The Rev. Barry J. Gamache, better known to parishioners of St. Mary’s Church as Father Barry, will be retiring from the church he has led for 26 years on July 1.

Father Barry was ordained to the priesthood at S.S. Peter & Paul Cathedral on Nov. 21, 1981. A Narragansett native, he graduated from Bishop Hendricken High School and the University of Rhode lsland before earning a Master of Divinity at St. Mary's University in Baltimore, Maryland. He started at St. Mary’s pert-time in 1997, and became their full-time priest in 2002.

Reflecting on his tenure, Father Barry considers the capital campaign that lead to the complete renovation of the church, inside and out, between 1997 and 2005, to be his greatest accomplishment.

But what his parishioners will remember about him most is how he made them feel.

“Father Barry is the most incredible listener I have ever met,” said Mary Ann Allen. “He he has helped so many.”

“Welcoming, accepting, kind,” said Deacon Paul Bisbano of the man he served with for several years. “He was an advocate, and he treated everyone the same. What you see is what you get.”

“In over 50 years as a member of St. Mary’s, There has never been a priest like Father Barry,” said Sue Ann Gale, who has served as a religious educator in the parish for more than four decades.

“He’s welcoming and understanding. No matter who you are, you are welcomed. After my husband died I was kind of lost. Father Barry gave me the faith to go on. I don’t know how anyone could replace him. Any idea, any ministry, he always says yes. He has grown the parish so much, and had such an impact. I wish him all the luck and the happiness that he deserves.”

Gregory Battison has been serving on the altar at St. Mary’s for 20 years, since he was 7 years old. “You can always talk to him,” he said of Father Barry. “He’s very accessible. There’s no judgement, and he’s always there for you. He gives the best advice, with humor.”

“People come in for confession, looking nervous and uncomfortable, and the next thing I would hear was laughter,” said Bisbano. “He could put everyone at ease. That was his gift — he is cut from a different cloth.”

“There’s nobody like him,” said Battison. “Not only as a priest, but as a person.”

“I will always be indebted to him,” said Bisbano.

Father Barry will be staying in the East Bay; he is in the process of moving to Tiverton, and he plans to celebrate Mass at St. Mary of the Bay on Thursday and Friday mornings and on a rotating weekend schedule. For as much as his parishioners admired him, he reciprocated the love.

“I have nothing but good memories,” he said. “I am so grateful to the people of St. Mary’s. They made my life here wonderful.”

“I hope this parish takes his legacy and builds on it, he’s left us so much,” said Allen. “He is incredible and he is going to be so missed.”