Charles Barry Truax, former advertising executive, dies

Yahoo

28-02-2025

Charles Barry Truax, a retired VanSant Dugdale advertising executive recalled for his ability to analyze information and for his outgoing personality, died of multiple organ failure Feb. 13 at UNC REX Hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina. The former Ruxton resident was 85.
Born in Utica, New York, he was the son of Walter Truax, a businessman, and his wife, Virginia Truax, an antiques dealer who ran a Cortland, New York, restaurant. After the death of his father, he and his mother moved to Baltimore. They lived temporarily on the third floor of the Hampton Mansion where his mother was a curator.
He was a graduate of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and Loyola University Maryland, where he was a cheerleader and dressed as the school's greyhound mascot.
Mr. Truax started his advertising career in 1962 at the VanSant Dugdale agency and retired in 2004 as senior vice president. He worked on the USF&G, Marriott, Westinghouse, Legg Mason and Lockheed Martin accounts, among others.
While at the agency, he met his future wife, Carla Wimmer. They married in 1981.
'Barry had a booming personality, warm smile and great sense of humor,' she said. 'He talked to everyone he met and was truly interested in their lives.'
A colleague, Sheldon Taule said, 'Barry was pleasant and outgoing and was something of a jester within the office. He was truly much smarter than people appreciated. He was a problem solver and a very capable guy.'
Raymond Sachs, another colleague, said, 'He was a combination of a person who could think in a perfectly orderly way — he could write computer code — but he also didn't like rules. He was an exceptional mathematician and could take media information and make it usable. You could not have a better friend and he was a welcome guest at every party.'
Mr. Truax was a past board president at the old Valley Academy and president of the Ruxton/Riderwood/Lake Falls Association.
He was an avid Baltimore Colts and Orioles fan, and also enjoyed sailing, skiing and flying.
'Barry was a big guy — 6-foot 4-inches — who endlessly peppered me with questions since the time we met as freshmen at Loyola,' said a longtime friend, John P. Healy. 'As a pilot, he was steady as a rock and was the kind of guy you wanted to be within a foxhole. He was also an excellent sailor and never panicked, even in heavy seas and 20-foot waves.'
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Harry Gormley, a neighbor and friend, said, 'Barry was vivacious. He could tell a good story and being in advertising, he had plenty to tell. He was the kind of friend who, without asking, would cut your grass for you if you were laid up.'
He had been a Eucharistic minister at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen.
A celebration of life and Mass will be held at 11 a.m. March 13 at St. Mary Magdalene Roman Catholic Church in Apex, North Carolina.
Survivors include his wife of 44 years, Carla Wimmer Truax, a WYPR vice president for corporate development, two daughters, Susan Barry Harrington of Holly Springs, North Carolina, and Sarah Elizabeth Truax of Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina; a son, John Barry Truax of Palm Beach, Florida; and grandchildren. Another daughter, Kathryn Barry Truax, died in 2012.
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