Steven Domenick Bary, beloved husband, father, and grandfather, passed away peacefully on Saturday, October 26th surrounded by his loving family at Roanoke Memorial Hospital due to COVID and complications from sarcoidosis.

Steve was born in Welch, West Virginia on July 11th, 1947 to the late Adolph Bary and Sadie Belcher Bary. He attended Welch High School where he followed in his father and brother Frank's footsteps as captain of the Welch High School football team. During his junior year, he played on the undefeated 1963 Maroon Wave team. The entire team was inducted into the McDowell County Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. In 1965, he graduated from Welch High School and accepted a football scholarship to Concord College where he would go on to earn a Bachelor's degree in Biology. In 1967, before beginning his junior year at Concord, he married his high school sweetheart, Rosemary Quattrochi. The two spent the first two years together living in the college's marriage units where they made many lifelong friends.

After graduation, Steve returned to Welch and McDowell County to become a dedicated teacher and coach in the local school system. His first teaching assignment was at Hemphill Elementary where he also coached the football team. After a short stint teaching at Kimball Middle School, he was transferred to Welch Junior High to teach Life Sciences, and was a faculty member there until he retired in 1995. "Mr. Bary" was beloved by his students and fellow teachers alike. He was a gifted instructor, intuitive about how nature and complex systems work, and loved being in the classroom. He taught a generation of students how to dissect frogs and Mendel's theory of genes. As a colleague, his humor, quick wit, and love of practical jokes kept his fellow teachers laughing and "on their toes," creating a sense of community at the school. In the 1985-86 academic year, he pulled out all of the stops when organizing school-wide events celebrating the highly-anticipated return of Halley's comet. Outside of the classroom, Steve was active in the West Virginia Education Association (WVEA), helped to organize WV teachers across the state and successfully negotiated a pay raise with then Governor Arch Moore in the early '70s.

In the mid '70s, Steve formed B & G Construction with friend and fellow teacher Joe Gonzalez. The two taught during the day and built things in the evenings and on the weekends. They put Steve's innate talent for knowing how things work in construction jobs large and small. The work also supported a growing family. In 1970, Steve and Rosemary welcomed their first son, David Steven, and three years later, welcomed their second son, Jeffrey Scott. Nothing gave Steve more joy than watching his boys follow in his footsteps in growing into generous and kind men. When they were young, Steve actively participated in their activities, becoming the Den Leader for the Pack 36 Cub Scouts, helping to form the Welch Stingrays Swim Team, and sponsoring the juggernaut B&G Construction T-ball teams. No matter what activity or sport his boys chose, he was always right there to support, encourage, and coach them. He also contributed to the community as a member and president of the Lions Club.

In 1984, Steve was diagnosed with pulmonary sarcoidosis, a rare and poorly understood autoimmune disease, which in his case became chronic and eventually spread to his central nervous system. He approached the challenges the disease presented him with an unmatched courage, strength, and humor. Rosemary's meticulous attention to his daunting healthcare needs single-handedly kept him in good health for decades, despite the debilitating effects of neurosarcoidosis.

The progression of the disease eventually led him to stop his construction work in 1984 and retire from the classroom and the teaching that he loved in 1995. In his retirement, he closely followed the pursuits of his two boys as one studied to become a lawyer and the other an astrophysicist. He took an endless pride in his boys and they will forever be his two proudest accomplishments.

As his friends began to join him in retirement, Steve helped to found the Thrashers golfing league as part of the Tug River Country Club. For him, there was nothing better than having breakfast at Tudor's Biscuit World with Wayne Hicks and the guys and spending a day on the course.

In 2019, Steve and Rosemary moved from their home on Riverside Dr. and the community they loved in Welch, WV to Salem, VA to be near David, Cindy, and his favorite grandson Maddox. As golfing had to fade from his routine, Steve found a new hobby: nothing gave him more pleasure than watching Maddox on the high school football field making one of his signature pancake blocks or a tackle for the Glenvar Highlanders on Friday nights. The two would often get together and review "film" from the games, allowing Steve to pass along his love and understanding of the game to his grandson.

On July 1st, 2024, Steve and Rosemary celebrated 57 years of marriage. Their relationship was one of deep commitment, teamwork, and lots of laughter. Sometime it was loud! They shared an abiding love that only grew stronger through the years. It will not end with Steve's passing.

He is survived by his wife Rosemary, his two sons and daughters-in-law, David and Cindy Bary of Salem, VA and Jeff Bary and Mary Simonson of Hamilton, NY, his brother Frank Bary of Ridgeway, VA, niece Cindy Bary Cox and husband Mark Cox, nephew Chuck Bary and wife Kim Bary, his grandchildren Maddox Bary, Hanna Hayes, and Demi Miles, and great-grandchildren Zane, Everleigh, Noa, Canaan, and Luke.

Services celebrating the life of Steve Bary will be held at Noon, Thursday, October 31, 2024, in the Chapel of the Memorial Funeral Directory on the Athens Road in Princeton with Monsignor Dean Borgmeyer officiating. Burial will follow in Roselawn Memorial Gardens in Princeton. Friends may visit with the family from 11:30 A.M. until the service hour at the funeral home. Donations in Steve's memory may be made to the Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or a charity of your choice. Family and friends will serve as pallbearers.

Online condolences may be shared with the family via www.memorialfd.com . The Bary family is being served by the Memorial Funeral Directory and Cremation Center on the Athens Road in Princeton.