On Feb. 6 at 4 p.m, around 150 members of the Trinity community gathered to celebrate and honor the life of Craig Braxton Barry, ‘25, at memorial service in Margarite B. Parker Chapel.
Barry, who died on Jan. 10, graduated from Trinity in May 2025 with a degree in accounting. He was a starting player on the Trinity men’s basketball team, and was set to earn his master’s degree in accounting this May. Upon graduating from Trinity’s master’s program, he planned to work as an associate for Ersnt & Young’s Houston office.
Students, faculty, friends and family attended Friday’s memorial service for him, and many wore his favorite color – pink – in honor of him. During the service, multiple speakers, including chaplains, mentors, teammates, friends and his father, Craig Barry, shared stories and memories of their time with Barry, highlighting the impact he had on their lives.
“We always knew Braxton was our miracle baby,” Craig Barry said. “We could sense that he had a good soul, and he was just different. My mom says she could feel something when she held him as a newborn baby. We all could see it.”
A reception in the chapel courtyard followed the service, offering a table with pens, slips of paper, a basket and a sign that read, “Share your memories of Braxton.” Loved ones wrote their memories of Barry and reflected on his impact, and all the cards were shared with his family.
“Grief is not a lack of faith, tears are not weakness,” Chaplain Jessica Kemp said during the service. “Sorrow is not something to be fixed, it is love with nowhere to go. So today, we do not pretend that this is easy. Braxton is a life that was lost too soon. We acknowledge that it hurts, it’s supposed to hurt.”
Chapel and Spiritual Life, alongside Trinity’s counseling services, are available to students grieving Barry’s loss, Kemp said.
*This story was updated on Feb. 12
