Barry attended Homecroft Elementary, Perry Central Junior High, and graduated from Southport High School in 1970. He graduated from Purdue University in 1974 with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and went to work on a cousin’s farm. For ten years, he was employed at Holcomb and Hoke Manufacturing, most of that time in purchasing. Following the closing of the company in 2009, he operated a care service.
Barry currently serves as President of the Perry Township / Southport Historical Society and has also served as historian for SHSAA. In 2015, Barry collaborated with Jay Danner and Rick Shaffer to publish Hail, Hail Our Southport, a history of the school.
Barry’s mother, Dolores Harsin Browning graduated from Southport in 1932 and his brother Ron graduated in 1960. An aunt, uncle, and several cousins also graduated from Southport in years spanning 1925-1970. Barry is married to Sandy Pritchett, a music teacher, and resides in Beech Grove.