08/26/2026
Duane Barry
On August 18, 2026, Duane A. Barry, beloved father, grandfather and great-grandfather passed away at the age of 92. Services are scheduled for September 24, 2026, 10:00 a.m. at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Bismarck, North Dakota, with burial following at the North Dakota Veterans’ Cemetery in Mandan, ND.
Duane was born February 15, 1934, in Dickinson, North Dakota to Olga Strommen, and spent his early years living with his beloved Grandmother, Marie on the Strommen family farm. Duane cherished memories of rømmergrøt for breakfast and lefse fresh off his Grandma’s wood cookstove. He also remembers spitting on the cooktop to watch his spit dance, an experiment that quickly earned him a swat (when he was caught). At seven, Duane went to live with his mother, Olga, and her husband, Kenny Barry, in Mott, North Dakota, where Kenny was a local sheriff. A jail cell proved to be the perfect spot to turn a little boy loose with his toys: plenty of room and nothing to break. After a few years in Mott, the family bought their farm in New England, North Dakota and began dairy and grain farming.
Duane’s schooling was inconsistent at first, as his uncles took great delight in teaching him choice words, which Duane put to use at school and was promptly kicked out. After a few false starts, he settled into learning in the one-room country school near the farm. It was here that the teacher demoted or promoted all the students into the same grade: 4th, with Duane being among those promoted. Duane often claimed he wouldn’t have met his future wife, Faye, had this providential promotion not occurred. They wouldn’t have been in the same graduating class and he was absolutely sure Faye wouldn’t have dated an underclassman.
Graduating in May 1951 from New England Public High School, Duane went on to Dickinson State Teacher’s College where he played football. He and Faye dated on and off throughout high school and some in college. It was also during college that Duane first began attending church and was confirmed in the Lutheran faith, with his favorite aunt, Mildred, serving as his sponsor. After the summer of 1952, Duane and a friend, both of whom had somewhat tough home lives, decided to chuck it all and drove up to Dickinson to join the Air Force. The Air Force office was closed, but the Navy recruiting office was open, so they both joined the Navy and left for boot camp just a few days later.
Radar was Duane’s Navy assignment and sparked his lifelong love of technology, electronics, and tinkering. Demonstrating the ingenuity Duane would become known for, he modified his radar so that, during war games, it could detect submarine periscopes. This modification attracted the attention of his superiors, and it wasn’t long before they came to inspect what he had done. While in the Navy, Duane crossed the equator several times and visited many South American countries, experiences that gave him plenty of stories to share when he returned home. He recalled his time in Peru, where sailors were invited to dinner in the homes of prominent families and guinea pig was served as a local delicacy. He also told stories of standing guard at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and on an island in San Francisco Bay, which he remembered as “the coldest he’d ever been.”
While in the Navy, he began writing to his future wife, Faye, and to his surprise she wrote back. They married in New England, North Dakota on October 9, 1954. Faye packed up and moved to California and their married life began. Duane’s Navy enlistment was complete in 1956, with his honorable discharge, and he began his telephone career with General Telephone. He started as a lineman, and quickly worked his way into management and the Switchroom. Children, Corrine (Cori) Jo and Ryan Clint were added while the family lived in California. Each summer they traveled to North Dakota for a month to visit family. Duane made a point of stopping to show the kids landmarks and points of interest along the way. Trips were always undertaken in an odd assortment of cars, including numerous Lloyds, Nash Ambassadors, and a Nash Rambler, none of which ever had air-conditioning to temper the desert heat. The windows were wide open and the water in the thermos was coffee flavored, but the stars at night were amazing.
Duane enjoyed a sixteen year career at General Telephone before switching gears, deciding on a major move to first Oregon and quickly to North Dakota in 1969. Once he landed in Bismarck, Duane began his career with Northwest Bell. One of his many career highlights was bringing underground phone service to ranches in the Badlands, a job that required him to do the engineering from horseback. AT&T even sent the company magazine out to record the adventure. Many friends in California saw the piece and were dumbfounded by a career choice that required horses to work. Duane and Faye soon completed their family with the addition of daughter, Tonya Leinani, who joined them in 1970. Duane worked for Northwestern Bell, later Qwest, until his retirement. Retirement didn’t last long, as he became an independent contractor for the phone company and continued his career for another ten years.
Duane and Faye traveled widely in their marriage and knew many interesting people, making many lifelong friends who became family to them while they lived in California. Their travels took them to Bolivia, China, Norway, Sweden, the Caribbean, and places across the US. Duane loved to share and everyone knew him as a storyteller. He was interested in everything and always curious. He took things apart, he tinkered, he rebuilt cars, he built his stereo, he remodeled their house, he built furniture, he fixed things, he was always trying to make things work or look better. Along the way, he also learned to cook his favorite childhood Norwegian recipes.
Duane was active in his congregation at Lord of Life, where he completed many furniture projects, including kneeling benches, rolling hymnal racks and anything else the church needed. He provided a crockpot of his favorite, rømmegrøt, for the annual bake sale. There was nothing he couldn’t make. The Studebaker Club was his long-time pet project, he served as its president for a number of years and ran their annual car shows. Duane was the last remaining member of his class of 1951 and had always organized their reunions, which they held every 5 years until they couldn’t. He continued to talk to his remaining classmates daily until, one by one they were gone. Those relationships were important to him.
Our dad called us all daily, often multiple times. Although it wasn’t always convenient, now we would cherish just one more call. We truly will always miss those calls.
Duane is survived by daughter, Cori (Rob) Rude, Bemidji, MN; son, Ryan (Carolyn) Barry, Cape Coral, FL; and daughter, Tonya (Todd) Parham, Shenzhen and Hong Kong; grandchildren, Megan (Jason) Barry Torres, Yuma, AZ, their children, J.R, Beau, and Paityn; Erin Curran, Bemidji, MN, her children Benjamin, Catherine, and Nicholas; Cooper (Lauren Kaiser) Parham, Bauer Parham, St. Paul, MN, and Paige Bladow, Fargo, ND.
Duane was preceded in death by MaryAnn Faye, his wife of 66 years, his parents, Olga and Kenny Barry; his in-laws Herb and Alice Erickson, his sister and brother-in-law, Dorothy and Ernie Neilsen, his brother-in-law, Dale Erickson, and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews and nieces.
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