Local
Barry Smythers-Wieczorek dies at 34
Memorial set for Wednesday for beloved hairstylist
Barry Smythers-Wieczorek, left, with husband Tom Wieczorek. (Photo courtesy Facebook)
Barry Smythers-Wieczorek, 34, a D.C. hairstylist, sports enthusiast and advocate for AIDS-related causes, died May 21 in Washington. Friends said he took his own life.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce that on Saturday afternoon our beloved friend and family member Barry Smythers sent himself home to heaven,” a message posted by friends on a Facebook page says.
Father Rich Vitale, a priest at D.C.’s Church Of The Holy City and longtime friend of Smythers-Wieczorek, called Smythers-Wieczorek a warm and caring person who “touched the lives of every single person he met.”
Vitale said in addition to his role as a popular hairstylist at the Logan 14 Aveda Salon and Spa on 14th Street, N.W., Smythers-Wieczorek was an avid participant in the city’s gay sports scene, especially the Stonewall Kickball Club.
He said Smythers-Wieczorek also was active with the AIDS LifeCycle bicycle riding events, which raise money for AIDS-related causes.
According to Vitale, Smythers-Wieczorek was born and raised in La Plata, Md. Smythers-Wieczorek’s Facebook page says he graduated from Henry E. Lackey High School in Indian Head, Md.
On Facebook, Smythers-Wieczorek wrote that an important milestone in his life happened in 2007, when he met Thomas Wieczorek, to whom he became engaged in 2009 and married in 2011.
Molly Ryan, manager of the Logan 14 Aveda Salon and Spa, said Smythers-Wieczorek attended the Graham Webb International Academy of Hair in Arlington, Va., and became a licensed hair stylist in 2007 or 2008. She said he worked at other D.C. hair salons before joining the staff of Logan 14 in 2015.
“He just truly was someone to light up any room he walked into,” Ryan said. “He was just so generous and thoughtful with everybody,” she said. “His clients had such an amazing relationship with him. He was passionate about his craft. He was inspirational and a leader to others within our salon.”
Ryan said Smythers-Wieczorek was also highly committed to social justice and public health causes, including fundraising for AIDS prevention efforts, public education and research.
“He definitely brought that passion to his co-workers and he got everybody involved with fundraising,” she said.
“He was just pure joy and love and just a wonderful, wonderful person,” Vitale said. “He will be missed terribly because he was just so loved.”
A celebration of life/memorial service for Smythers-Wieczorek is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, May 25, at Church Of The Holy City at 1611 16th St., N.W., beginning at 4 p.m. A funeral Mass will be held at the church at 6 p.m. immediately following the memorial service.
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Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.
Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.
Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).
Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
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