Grace Barry Wilson Vaughan

1921 - 2019

Grace Barry Wilson Vaughan, whose health was failing over the past year, quietly passed away on Saturday, August 31, 2019 at the age of 97 at Lake Harris Health Center in Leesburg, FL. She was predeceased by her loving husband, Robert Edward Vaughan but is survived by many loving nieces and nephews. Barry was born in Newport News, VA on December 13, 1921, but was raised and educated in the Philadelphia, PA area where she graduated from the Philadelphia High School for Girls in 1939. She attended West Chester State Teachers College and graduated in 1943 with a B. S. Degree in Music and English, which eventually became her lifelong career. Barry’s first teaching assignment, as a choral music teacher, was at Glenside-Weldon Junior High School in Abington TWP, PA (1943-1945). She began teaching in the Chester School District in 1946. She taught at Martin, Jefferis and Wetherill Elementary schools for 18 years (1946-1964). To assist the career of her husband Bob, who was the Director of Music and Fine Arts for the Chester schools, Barry frequently sang professionally at churches, local service clubs such as Kiwanis, Rotary and women’s clubs all over the Delaware Valley. During this time period, Barry studied and earned her Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Pennsylvania in 1967. Her major was Guidance and Counseling, which aided her in focusing on helping students realize their true potential. Her post graduate work in music was accomplished at Peabody’s in Baltimore, MD where she learned a new teaching technique. This approach, by Kodaly, was a new concept using syllables and hand signals to aid students to sing on pitch. While she was teaching at West Chester State College from 1966-1968 as an assistant professor, the Kodaly method was introduced to her graduate students. Barry continued to study voice from some prominent voice teachers and coaches in Philadelphia. She left a legacy of teaching young children to enjoy music as they learned. Barry eventually transferred her teaching duties to her hometown of Haverford Township where she taught music, before spending the last 10 years of her career as a guidance counselor at Haverford Junior High School. She retired in 1977. During her lifetime, Barry was interested in her communities and served them in many different capacities. As a young teacher, she was a senior Girl Scout leader and an Executive Board member in Delaware County. She was a youth choir director in Chester and sang in church choirs for over 50 years as a member and soloist. She was a Regent of her DAR chapter, president of the Llanerch Women’s Club, served on the board of the Delaware County Federation of Women’s Clubs, was a volunteer at the local nursing home, and former member of the Eastern Star. She found time to give private vocal lessons to a few of her students including her former Chesterite, Helene Joseph, who eventually sang all over Europe and with the Metropolitan Opera Co. in New York. As a retiree, Barry joined the Sunshine Singers. They traveled the Delaware Valley entertaining at civic clubs, churches, and community affairs. In 1983, while Ronald Reagan was president, they were invited to entertain at the White House where they sang and met both the president and vice president, George Bush. Barry and Bob continued to travel extensively in the US and Canada until they decided to move to Florida in 1997, where they resided at the Plantation of Leesburg. In December 2003, due to health concerns, they moved into a lovely senior residence at Lake Port Square. There, Bob passed away in 2015 and Barry remained with the LPS community and participated in many activities such as water aerobics, line dancing, the reading club, and being “Queen Mum“ of the Lake Port Red Hat Society until her passing. As Barry requested, she was cremated. Both Barry and Bob will be buried in the old family plot behind Saint Mark‘s Episcopal Church in Honey Brook, PA. Online condolences may be left at www.beyersfuneralhome.com, arrangements entrusted to Beyers Funeral Home and Crematory, Leesburg, FL.