Jack Barry

JACK BARRY IDAHO FALLS, ID -- Funeral Services for Jack Cornelous Barry, 87, who died at his home in Idaho Falls Saturday, October 16, 2004, will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Wood Funeral Home, 273 N. Ridge Avenue, Idaho Falls. Graveside services will follow at Rose Hill Cemetery, with military honors provided by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Barry was a longtime Idaho Falls business owner, avid outdoorsman and golfer. During his golfishing years, he recorded two holes-in-one at Pinecrest Golf Course, at No. 7 and at No. 10, and placed in several local tournaments. He was born January 12, 1917, at Cheyenne, Wyoming, to James Patrick Barry and Ruth Cornelous Barry. He spent much of his youth on Army bases throuhgout the U. S. with his mother and stepfather, a Cavalry master sergeant. He also spent time with his father, a cigar store proprietor and professional gambler in Cheyenne. He sold copies of The Denver Post as a boy on the streets of Cheyenne, once earning a tip from Jack Dempsey. He took piano lessons from his mother, who played at silent movie houses. He graduated from Junction City High school in Junction City, Kansas. In 1936. While still in high school, he participated in one of the last open-range cattle drives in the West. It engendered a lifelong love of the outdoors, hunting and fishing, which he shared with his family. As a youth, he always had an arena-side seat atop a horse at Cheyenne Frontier Days, earned by driving stock for this famous rodeo. However, he was not a Wyoming cowboy, but a high country plainsman. He married Maxine Patterson at Vine Grove, Kentucky, on April 17, 1939. They were married for 50 years. She was the love of his life. During World War II, he became the third generation in his family to serve in the U. S. Army. His grandfather Patrick had served with General Crook and 260 Crow and Shoshone Indians at the Battle of the Rosebud in Wyoming a week prior to the battle at Little Bighorn 30 miles away. Later, he took his family to the site of the battle, using writings and personal papers to locate the ridge where his grandfather had fought. During the war he was stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, where he witnessed the conversion of the Army's last horse cavalry unit to a mechanized battalion. He guarded Italian prisoners of war who were formerly mechanics from the Fiat factory in Turino, Italy. He took the prisoners home with him on weekends, and they kept his old car in top shape and taught him how to make "all-day spaghetti," a lifelong specialty. He received radio operators training at Fort Knox, which led to his interest in commercial electronics. Following the war, he moved his family to Pocatello, where his son, Joel, was born. Later he worked for a time at the Utah General Depot in Ogden and owned a radio repair business. Ogden is where his daughters, Linda Marie and Faye Anne, were born. In 1952, he moved his family to Rialto, California, and opened an electronics store and record shop. He was active in community events and civic organizations. Including the Lions Club. The family enjoyed Mojave Desert camping, traveling cross-country and occasional hunting trips to Utah. As Southern California became more congested, he decided to return to the Intermountain West, where he could hunt and fish. He started Rapid TV on North Yellowstone Highway in 1966 with son, Joel. The site is still occupied by a family business. After retiring, he traveled in Mexico and wandered the West hunting, fishing and sightseeing. His later years were noted by his love of family and a contagious enthusiasm for life, sense of humor and eternal optimism. He was proud of his Irish hearitage. His son, Joel, died in 1987. His wife, Maxine, died in 1990. Survivors include his daughters, Linda Marie (Ryan) Rumsey and Faye Anne (Bill) Hathaway, both of Idaho Falls; eight grandchildren, Scott Barry, Traci Daniels, Lisa Misseldine, Kim Summers, and Jennifer, Brett, Sean and Kelly Hathaway; 10 great-grandchildren; and a half-sister, Alice Foster of Anaheim, California.