Peter was born December 26th, 1931 in Chatham, New Brunswick, Canada and lived in Fort Kent, Maine until he attended Saint Anselm’s College (AB history), Boston College (MA history), and UW Madison (PhD history). Peter’s first teaching position was at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee. While working at Cardinal Stritch, he was finalizing his dissertation at UW Madison entitled “The New Hampshire Merchant Interest, 1609-1725”. Peter was a professor of history at UW Whitewater teaching courses such as American Revolution and Confederation, American Military History and Strategy, and the US at War in Vietnam. He served as chairman of the salary committee at UW Whitewater, too. Simultaneous to his teaching career, Peter was an officer in the U.S. Army and later the Army Reserve retiring at the rank of Colonel. Peter attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Army War College, and was a diplomat of the National Defense University. He served as adjunct faculty at the Command and General Staff College, was a West Point interim faculty member, and was Deputy Commander of the Center of Military History reporting to the U.S. Army Chief of Staff. In Walworth County, Wisconsin Peter served as a Walworth County Board member for several terms and chaired the computer and audit committees and the tri-county training and employment consortium.
Peter was the beloved father of Elizabeth (Beth) (Richard) Ruderman and loving grandfather of Aaron and Barry Ruderman of Lincolnwood, Illinois. Peter was a dear son of the late Henrietta Losier Barry and the late Alfred Thomas Barry of Fort Kent, Maine. He was predeceased by his older twin brothers Thomas Marc Barry and Joseph Paul Barry and his younger brother Arthur Alfred (Caroline Cyr) Barry.
Private internment will be at St Louis Cemetery in Fort Kent, Maine. May his memory be for a blessing.
