Barry graduated from Lincoln Institute in Melbourne with a Diploma of Physiotherapy in the mid-1960s.

He travelled to and worked in Canada as a physiotherapist for three years before returning to Adelaide to complete the three-month Maitland Course in Manipulative Therapy, which became known as a Master in Manipulative Physiotherapy.

From Adelaide Barry then moved to Perth and commenced a successful private practice in Fremantle.

During his professional life, Barry went on to open private practices in the Perth CBD and Kalgoorlie.

He was a forerunner for the emergence of manipulative physiotherapists in Western Australia and was the physiotherapist for the East Fremantle Football Club for a number of years.

He met his first wife, Jane, in Canada and they had two sons, Paul and Nicholas.

Barry served in several roles as a member of the APA: vice president of the WA Branch from 1976 to 1978, a national delegate on the APA Council, and president and national representative of the WA Private Practice Group.

For a period Barry also served on the WA Registration Board, which he chaired in 1989.

In his leisure time he owned and worked three farms, one in Greenbushes and two in Chittering near Perth.

In Greenbushes he farmed trees while the Chittering farms consisted of sheep and a variety of crops, some of which were certified under the umbrella of the Departure of Agriculture.

For a brief period he tried his hand in the restaurant industry, indulging his passion for cooking.

In his retirement Barry moved to Kamala near Phuket in Thailand, where he passed away. He is survived by his current wife, Noi.