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By Lydia Patrick
Life & Trends Reporter
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A woman's touching tribute to her late father—a pioneering early employee at Apple—has gone viral, sparking nostalgia and admiration from Reddit users.
Ashley, 40, shared a photo of her father Barry's Apple ID card from 1981 in the subreddit r/mildlyinteresting, where it quickly gained traction, racking up 97,000 upvotes.
Ashley told Newsweek that she was born in 1984, during the time her father worked for Apple. She said that her parents met in Charlotte, North Carolina, in February 1981—just one month after the ID photo was taken.
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"My Momma worked for Apple as an 'area associate'—a receptionist who did it all. My Dad was the first salesman in Florida—the only Florida employee of Apple Computer. He had a lot to do with educational sales—he would visit schools and encourage them to purchase Apple and the corresponding software," Ashley said.
She said she was prompted to share the post after her mother, while cleaning out her wallet, found several old ID cards—including the now-viral Apple badge.
Her parents' love story began with a bold move: while on a business trip to Charlotte, Barry walked up to Ashley's mother's desk, took a sip from her half-coffee, half-hot-chocolate drink, and smiled. "Momma said he was the absolute most handsome man she had ever met," Ashley said.
The office buzzed about "Barry from Florida" all week. "She said he had on a light gray suit and the seams on the sides of his pants overlapped—the girls in the office that day talked about how they hoped the seams hid zippers. Easy access (barf!!)," Ashley said. Her mother moved to Boca Raton to be with him in January 1982.
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As a child, Ashley misunderstood her dad's job, believing he "sold literal apples" and was also Lionel Richie—thanks to the big hair and mustache resemblance.
Their home always had a computer, starting with the Apple IIe, and she recalls playing the game Deja Vu, though never quite grasping its mystery-laden storyline. A gamepad for children's software was also a favorite for her and her brother.
Barry worked for Apple until 1989. During that time, he traveled extensively, attending conferences, meeting Steve Jobs in Hawaii and Robin Williams in Cupertino. "When Apple threw parties—they threw parties, man. It was the 80s in South Florida. Let your imagination go wild," Ashley said. Celebrating new births with lavish baskets and $1,500 congratulatory checks, Apple's perks back then were legendary. The East Coast sales division also took annual cruises to places such as San Juan and Martinique.
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After leaving Apple, Barry continued his trailblazing streak. The family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, to be closer to Ashley's maternal relatives. He went on to create an early version of DoorDash called "WeShop," delivering groceries to busy families and seniors.
Barry later partnered with his son and his friends to sell kit skateboard ramps in the early 90s, before returning to sales in the automotive finance sector.
In 2014, Barry underwent triple bypass surgery in Georgia. He had long suffered from a rheumatic heart, stemming from childhood rheumatic fever. During that hospital stay, Ashley met her future husband, who worked at the same hospital. "He took GREAT pleasure every year reminding us that, if it wasn't for good old dad, we never would have met," she said.
That same year, Ashley moved to Michigan—soon followed by her parents and brother. Her brother later married the family's next-door neighbor, another connection she credited to her father's influence.
"He was the absolute funniest person I've ever met and this whole to-do about his goofy Apple ID badge, it would have cracked him up," Ashley said. She added that, while the photo has gone viral, no former Apple employees have yet come forward to say they personally knew him.
Barry passed away on August 24, 2020. He and his wife were just weeks away from celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary. "Up to the day my father died, he had his mustache. I never witnessed him without it," Ashley added. "He would push his mustache up sometimes. and I would be in hysterics."
Life at Apple in the Early Days
Barry was among the vanguard who shaped Apple's future in its golden age. According to PCMag, the early 1980s were a defining era for the company, which had launched the Apple II in 1977—one of the first mass-produced personal computers.
By 1981, when Barry joined, Apple had grown to 2,500 employees and was on the cusp of launching the Lisa and Macintosh, which would revolutionize user interfaces.
Reddit Reacts
The story resonated with thousands of Reddit users, many of whom expressed a mix of admiration and regret.
"Did he hold on to his stock? Are you posting this from your private island? Super cool btw [by the way]," wrote one commenter.
"My first proper job was with Apple in the summer of '98 … stock was around 30 cents. I bought absolutely none of it and drank every penny," another added.
Others posted: "1998 Apple didn't really look like a sure bet. The iMac had made a splash, but OSX and iPods were still a long way out. I wouldn't have bet on them then," someone added.
One user commented how working in a university mail room in 2001 gave them an early glimpse of Amazon's growing footprint. "My laziness cost me a head start on early retirement," they added.
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