‘This was not the plan.’ U.S. Rep. Andy Barr delivers eulogy at wife’s funeral.
Twelve years and a day after Andy Barr married Eleanor Carol Leavell, the congressman from Lexington hovered over their two young daughters at Southland Christian Church Monday and bade farewell to his wife.
“This was not the plan,” said Barr in delivering an emotional eulogy for his wife who died unexpectedly last Tuesday night at their Lexington home. A preliminary autopsy report said Carol Barr likely died of a heart condition. She was 39.
“The plan,” Barr said, “was to work hard, save the world, raise our kids right, sprint through the chaos, and then, when the time was right, to finally reap the reward — catch our breath, at last, spend more time together and enjoy our lives traveling, laughing, loving together forever. That was our plan.”
He called his wife a planner, a list maker, who would tell the family “just get it done.”
Barr said he did not excel in those skills, noting that even after he met her in February 2005, he asked her for her business card and even was late for their first date.
He said asking her to marry him in July 2007 on a quiet, serene hill in rural Kentucky was the best decision in his life.
They married June 21, 2008, at Christ Church Cathedral in Lexington, where visitation for her was held Sunday. They have two daughters, Eleanor, 9, and Mary Clay, 7. Southland has been their home church for the last two years.
Barr said his wife followed the greatest commandment in the Bible: To love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind and your neighbor as yourself.”
As a politician, Barr said, he often put his wife in an “unfair position.” He said she would say to him, “Andy, If I have to wear a name tag, it’s not a date.”
Her greatest legacy, he said, will be motherhood and he believes she is in heaven now planning what the family will do when they all are together again.
The funeral was filled with scripture, music and recollections from friends.
Greg Chandler, Southland’s care pastor, said the congressman had told him, “This gathering will be a celebration of Christian selflessness.”
Carol Barr grew up in Georgetown, got a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Kentucky in 2002, worked in sales for Pfizer and was executive director of the Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship.
She also volunteered her time with the Lexington Junior League and the University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information National Advisory Board.
A private family burial at the Lexington Cemetery followed the funeral.
This story was originally published June 22, 2020 at 2:08 PM.
