N. Merrick School District honors retiree, veteran

Before Barbara Byrne even reached the North Merrick Board of Education room, she accepted congratulatory hugs from supporters and life-long friends on her retirement. Once she settled in her seat, with her husband, John Byrne, by her side, she quietly waited for the meeting to begin on Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Byrne worked for the North Merrick School District for 31 years as a lunch monitor and special-education aide at Old Mill Road Elementary School. Working with children was always a fun, exciting experience, she said.

Before entering education, Byrne served in the Women’s Army Corps from October 1961 to October 1963. “I was 19 years old at the time,” she said, as her friends leaned in closer to hear her story. “Germany was causing problems at the time, and only the men were being drafted, and I wanted to help, so I enlisted.”

Byrne attended basic training in Anniston, Ala., and then she was stationed in Chicago at Fort Sheridan.

“I was never in combat or anything; we weren’t allowed to [be] at the time,” she said. “In fact, they teach you how to take a gun apart, clean it and put it back together, but I could never put it back together,” she added with a laugh.

Byrne is well known in the Merricks for her selfless deeds and benevolent demeanor. Byrne is as active as a member of any community can be. According to the American Legion Post 1282 Commander Kenneth Braun, she has been involved with the legion for 17 years.

“She’s been involved with many different events throughout the years,” Braun said. He quickly listed activities that Byrne takes part in: the Boys State program, “where we send boys upstate for two weeks to learn about the government and law”; the Americanism program, where “Barbara goes into classrooms and speaks to kids about America and the flag. She never hesitates to participate for that one”; the welfare program, which helps care for the sick in local hospitals.

“She knows a lot about welfare members of the post and sends them flowers or cards if they’re at the hospital,” Braun said.

Bryne is among the most dependable of post members, Braun said. “She knows almost all of the procedures here; we count very much on her and her husband,” he said. (John Byrne has been with the post for eight years as an active member.)