Barry S. Roy, 57, of Lusby, Md., and formerly of Erie and Girard, Pa., died Thursday, Jan. 1, 2009, at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va. Despite 10 weeks of intensive care and treatment from the medical staff of the Inova Heart and Vascular Institute, Barry lost his silent and courageous 20-year battle with cardiovascular disease due to complications of congestive heart failure.

Barry was born in Erie, Pa., on Oct. 25, 1951, the youngest son of the late Kenneth B. and Lenora (Ghee) Roy. A 1969 graduate of Strong Vincent High School, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1971 and served on active duty until 1974.

Barry had a colorful employment history, which included working while a teenager at a local car wash with one of his best friends, Bernie Heubel, whose death in September 2008 saddened Barry immensely. As an adult, he worked at the Erie Wastewater Treatment Plant, as a driver for Chariot Rent-A-Car in Fairview, as a paralegal for local attorneys, and at Erie Cablevision.

After suffering a cerebrovascular accident (stroke) in 1989, Barry went back to school in 1991, then suffered a heart attack and underwent quadruple bypass surgery in Dec. 1992, and a year later still managed to graduate from Gannon University with a Bachelor of Science degree. After graduation from Gannon, Barry moved to southern Maryland near the Patuxent River Naval Air Station where he worked in the computer field for a number of contractors for the military.

He is survived by his wife, Eileen Harrington Roy; three sons, Jason, Allan and Oliver Roy; one daughter, Grace Roy Russell, and her husband, C. Stephen Russell (all of southern Maryland); and one brother, Kenneth G. Roy, of Somerset, N.J.

Friends are invited to attend Barry's "green burial" at Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve, 293 Irish Hill Rd., Newfield, N.Y., on Wednesday, Jan. 7, at 1 p.m. The Lansing Funeral Home, Lansing, N.Y., is handling arrangements. Since this is a natural green burial, in lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Inova Heart and Vascular Institute (Inova Fairfax Hospital), the American Heart Association or Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve.