AARP’s A. Barry Rand Remembered As ‘A Man for All Seasons’

AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins and other prominent national leaders paid tribute Monday to A. Barry Rand, AARP’s former CEO, who died Nov. 7 following a long illness. 

“Barry saw his role at AARP not just as CEO, but also as AARP’s chief servant,” Jenkins said in her eulogy during a memorial service at National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. “And just as he had been a strong advocate for the inclusion of more minorities and women in corporate America, he was a strong advocate for AARP’s mission to enhance the quality of life for all people as they age.”

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In a service inspired by the seasons of Rand’s life, Jenkins spoke about “Winter: The Season of Giving,” the late period of Rand’s career. In 2009, he came out of retirement to use his decades of experience in corporate America to lead AARP in its mission to empower people to choose how they live as they grow older.

“To do what his grandfather told him he had to do to get into heaven. His focus was on the middle class, on low-income vulnerable people, people of color,” she said.

His lifelong friend Kent Amos, who also later became a colleague at Xerox Corp., led off the tributes to “celebrate, honor and respect” Rand by reading expressions of sympathy sent to the family. They included a proclamation from District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser — who declared a day of remembrance for Rand — and a resolution in his honor from the Howard University Board of Trustees, a beneficiary of Rand’s volunteer work and philanthropy during much of his life.

To remember “Spring: The Season of Youth,” Theodore V. Wells, another childhood friend, shared stories of being treated as a sidekick by the inseparable duo of Amos and Rand, who were five years older, serving as “the little brother neither of them had but desperately wanted.” Wells, who went on to become a successful white-collar criminal lawyer, noted Rand’s kindness to younger children, presaging his years acting as a career mentor to newcomers to the corporate world.