Benedictine honors beloved teacher, athletic director Barry Gibrall

Mar 31, 2026 - 01:25

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Benedictine honors beloved teacher, athletic director Barry Gibrall

GOOCHLAND COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- A memorial service was held at Benedictine College Preparatory for beloved teacher and athletic director Barry Gibrall on Monday.

On Monday, March 30, Benedictine hosted a memorial service in the school gymnasium for Barry Gibrall, a poetry and literature teacher as well as athletic director. Gibrall died peacefully on March 23 at the age of 79.

"He was just an honest guy -- showed you that if you care about other people, put your best foot forward, you can make an impact on others' lives," said Michael Kaplan, an English instructor at Benedictine.

(Photo: Paul Nevadomski/8News)

As a Cadet, Gibrall played on the 1962 State Championship football team, which is the only team in school history to have an undefeated season. He also studied and played at the University of Richmond, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Humanities degree.

From 2000 to 2025, Gibrall was a well-known poetry and literature teacher who also served as athletic director from 2000 to 2010.

"His voice made him stand out," Kaplan said. "He had a great accent and phenomenal sense of humor, but he was just honest, real honest with the boys -- whether it was with the sports or with their writing, and it really allowed them to be themselves around them, which was important."

To that effect, in recent years, Gibrall was known as "The Voice" of Benedictine athletics because of his regional accents, sports expertise and the dramatic announcer voice he used for every football, basketball and baseball game.

"Barry’s legacy will be his unabashed love for Benedictine and his unwavering dedication to the places where the Benedictine spirit lives — on our fields and courts, in our classrooms, in the chapel and in the bonds of brotherhood between Cadets," reads a post on social media.