Barrie Advance columnist Lee Ballantyne continues to make Internet headlines with his pay-it-forward good deed.

His kind act topped BuzzFeed’s 19 Completely Awesome Things Canadians Did in 2014.

On Jan. 7, Ballantyne went out to eat alone for the first time, after losing Carol, his high school sweetheart and wife of 43 years, to cancer.

At Cicco’s Ristorante in the city’s southeast end, Ballantyne spotted a young couple who appeared in love and spontaneously paid for their meal.

“You remind me of us many years ago. Please allow me to buy your dinner. Enjoy!” Ballantyne wrote on a paper napkin. “It will put a smile on Carol’s face and make me happy…for now.”

A Cicco’s waiter photographed the note and posted it on Reddit. The story went viral, and Ballantyne — the man who, for years, wrote the headlines as our news editor — was making them.

“It was a great thing he did. He has inspired people to pay it forward,” Cicco’s owner Lindsay Weiss said. “Every single time it touches my heart.”

Ballantyne said he didn’t make the gesture to garner any fame. In writing about the world-wide reaction, he said, “I did it to put a smile on someone’s face and to give myself a badly needed feel-good moment. The hundreds of comments since then have, I confess, warmed my heart.”