Friends and family of Xavier 2005 graduate reminisce over the life of Josh Barrick
By Ethan Nichols, World News Editor
Faithful, loyal and welcoming. Those are the three adjectives that Alison Conway used to describe her friend Josh Barrick, who was killed in the April 10 mass shooting at Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky.
Barrick was a husband, father of two and a Xavier alum.
Graduating in 2005, Barrick was a double major in finance and marketing. As senior vice president of commercial real estate banking at Old National Bank in Louisville, he spent almost 20 years in the industry and was named one of Louisville Business First’s 2020 “People to Know in Banking.”
Barrick was an active member of his community, including at his home parish, Holy Trinity Catholic Church, where he coached first and second grade basketball teams.
“Our hearts are heavy, they are broken and we are searching for answers,” Fr. Shayne Duvall, Holy Trinity’s pastor, said.
A Louisville native, Barrick graduated from Trinity High School and was described as an outstanding student who continued supporting the school long after graduation. He frequently volunteered at the annual bloodmobile and came back as an alumnus to help with the senior retreats.
Josh Barrick, killed in the recent Louisville shooting, was the husband to Jessica and father to 9-year-old Carolina and 7-year-old James.
“Josh was an ideal classmate, a conscientious student and friend to all who embodied the brotherhood of Trinity. He was a devoted and loving husband and father who will be missed by all of those who were fortunate enough to know him,” Mike Paradis, the chair-elect of the Trinity School Board and one of Barrick’s classmates, said.
Alison Conway, a friend of Barrick’s, shared that he “took great pride in being a Xavier alum.”
“Josh loved every chance he had to watch a Xavier game with his friends. His family became Xavier fans through his love of his time there. It has been said many times this week that when you have Josh on your side, he’s there for life. He’s loyal beyond measure and loved his family endlessly. Truly one of the best people I will ever have the opportunity to know, and while my time with him was cut far too short, I will be forever grateful for the impact he made on my life,” Conway shared.
“His wife and his children will have his amazing legacy to get them through this incredibly difficult time and a strong community of friends and family who love them dearly,” Conway added.
Childhood friend of Barrick Chris Glasser said many of his most cherished memories with Barrick came from basketball and that he was a “constant of [his] childhood.”
“Josh’s favorite players were Reggie Miller and Chris Mullin, and that was his game too. An efficient, effortless scorer. He was someone we all feared in a game of knockout,” Glasser said.
President Colleen Hanycz shared her sympathies with the Barrick family and all impacted by the shooting.
“This feels different because it’s one of our community members, but this is no different than the countless individuals who have died in mass shootings and continue to die in mass shootings across this country. It’s no more, it’s no less. It’s the loss of a human life that should never have been lost; it just feels different when Josh Barrick is in our family,” Hanycz said.
Hanycz praised Barrick as a paragon of Xavier’s ideals and values.
“He’s so much of what I hope for our graduates to be: active, engaged members of their communities with a love of family, a love of God and an absolute belief that they are making a difference in the world,” Hanycz said.
“I can’t imagine anyone looking at our current landscape and not concluding that something needs to change. All people of goodwill would agree that something needs to change… Clearly, this president, this mother, this community member, is absolutely convinced that something needs to change,” Hanycz continued.
Josh Barrick, a lifelong Musketeer, was laid to rest in Louisville last Saturday.
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