1940 � 2008
passed away peacefully after his battle with cancer at Coming Home Hospice on October 7, marking the end of an era. Barry was a jazz vocalist who appeared on the San Francisco cabaret circuit for three decades. He started singing at age eight. In the late 1940s, he sang on weekly radio broadcasts in Detroit, where he was born.
Barry later formed two popular singing groups. The Vanguards appeared at plush supper clubs such as the Playboy Club and the Pump Room at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago.
He also started a group in the 1960s call the Scene Stealers. They toured the U.S., appearing on the same bills with artists like Louie Armstrong and Sally Rand. Barry was a dynamic solo performer, a recording artist, and a member of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus in the 1980s.
He also appeared for extended engagements at popular San Francisco nightspots like the Fickle Fox, The Galleon and The Swallow.
He will be dearly missed by his musical family and all of this friends, especially in the "wee small hours of the morning."