Stephen Barry
Stephen Daniel Barry, 58, of San Francisco and formerly of Yorktown Heights, died July 12. Among his survivors is a brother, Kevin Barry, of Cold Spring.
Stephen was born on July 4, 1965, in Peekskill, the youngest of the six children of James and Patricia Barry. After graduating from Lakeland High School in 1983, he earned an associate’s degree in liberal arts from SUNY Delhi and attended the Walt Disney World College Program in Orlando.
In 1986, he joined the United States Merchant Marine, working his way through the ranks from Able Seaman to Chief Mate/Chief Officer. His experience as an officer was focused on Military Sealift Command in the Maritime Prepositioning Squadrons. He was awarded the Merchant Marine Expeditionary Medal for his service in Iraq.
At the same time, he earned a bachelor’s degree in communication and media art at California State University, Chico, graduating in 1994. Stephen studied negotiation tactics at the George Meany Center for Labor Studies and worked as a union official at SIU North America, AFL-CIO, San Francisco. In 1996, he spearheaded a mission to Lawrenceburg, Indiana to unionize workers on the gambling boats on the Ohio River, which led to the creation of the Seafarers Entertainment and Allied Trades Union.
In 2010, he suffered a leg injury during mooring operations that ended his career with the Merchant Marine. He turned to writing and photography and founded Jack Tar Muse, a San Francisco-based company specializing in fine art laser engravings and epoxy resin inlay on wood, tile, leather, and glass. His most significant literary achievement was a poem, “The Sinking of El Faro.”
Along with his brother and sister-in-law, Mary Pat Barry, in Cold Spring, Stephen is survived by his son, Jack Barry, and three other siblings: Gene Barry (Edalyn), Jaime Barry and Maura Boyle (Eddie) of Stuttgart, Germany. His brother Christopher died in 2022. He is also survived by eight nephews and four nieces, including Liam, Kevin and Maria Barry of Cold Spring.
Memorial services are being planned for California and Cold Spring.
