Barry Charles Binder

Barry Binder of Los Alamitos, California passed away peacefully at home on September 24, 2024.

On the last Sunday of November 1940, a cold, gray and drizzly day in Cincinnati, Barry was born #1 son to proud young parents Mary (Reilly) and Joe Binder. He grew up in the nearby suburb of North College Hill and attended St. Margaret Mary grade school and Roger Bacon High School before college at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. A man who treasured relationships, Barry's childhood friends remained friends throughout his entire life. The best of these was a junior high romance with Betty Remmel that lasted 70 years.

Barry served in the US Army in the late '50's, stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska just as it was becoming a state. Visiting an army buddy in Long Beach, he imagined a sunny new life. But first he had to sell Betty on the idea. By 1964, they had moved and gotten married at St. Bartholomew in Belmont Shore. A few years later, they welcomed two children, Shana and Brian.

After several years with Flying Tigers Airlines, Barry's entrepreneurial career took off. He and Betty became partners in a popular beauty salon. He became a licensed real estate broker in 1974, a calling that would serve the community well. Tens of thousands of homeowners and many hundreds of Realtors would find success through the services his RE/MAX College Park Realty offices have provided to this day.

Barry and Betty supported many worth causes over the years including Pathways to Independence, Los Alamitos HS Foundation and Hannah & Friends. He led with kindness and generosity. Over several years, he rode his bike more than 500 miles from SF to LA to raise funds to fight AIDS and walked 60 Miles for the 3 Day Susan G. Komen Walk for breast cancer awareness.

Well-travelled and adventurous, Barry led the crew for several of endurance swimmer Lynne Cox's record-setting swims in Antarctica, Peru and Egypt. He and Betty frequently travelled around the US and Europe including a special family trip to Ireland to watch his beloved Notre Dame football team.

Curious and well-read, Barry's passions were many including WWII history, biographies of world leaders, pro sports and college football. But none surpassed his love and pride in his family: Betty, his smart and beautiful bride of sixty years, daughter Shana, her children Shea Sepulveda and Sadie Sepulveda, and her fiancé David Sieloff. And son Brian and his wife Natalie (Sievers) and their children Hudson, Holden, Adler and Jack.

Sisters and brothers include Irene Binder, Tim and Kathy Binder, Jeanne Binder and Brian Donohue, Patty Berg, Julie and Chuck Moore, Phil Burdick. Gone before him are Mary Jo and Donuts Fuchs, Denny Binder and Priscilla Burdick.

To know Barry was to know love in action. He gathered, connected and held tight. Strangers became friends and friends became family. He loved the small town life and the big city lights, his Seal Beach gang, and a cold one at Joe Jost's. Sláinte!