Barry Berse Benjamin, 89, a French hornist who joined Local 802 in 1965, died on June 15, 2024.

Barry was born to Alan and Sylvia Benjamin on August 19, 1934, later joined by his sister Merryl nine years later.

At the age of 10, while running out to play baseball, his father stopped him and had him sit down to listen to a musical recording that his father particularly liked. When Barry heard the French horn, he thought it was the most beautiful thing he ever heard. It was at that moment at just ten, Barry made the decision to be a horn player — and become a horn player, he did.

He had no backup plan. All there was, was the horn. He was a good baseball player and even joined a semi-pro team, The Tars, where he did quite well. But there was always the horn.

After attending the High School of Music and Art in NYC, he attended the Eastman School of Music where he met his first wife, Jean Douttiel, a violinist from Ohio. They fell in love and married. Barry joined the Coast Guard, played in the band and soon had two children: Lisa Rebecca Benjamin in 1957 and Seth Douttiel Benjamin in 1960.

After the Coast Guard, Barry started to play with the Hartford Symphony and the family moved to Hazardville, Connecticut. Quickly he found gigs New York City, and the family moved to the Hollis neighborhood of Queens. Barry found himself playing for the New York City Ballet, then the New York Brass Quintet, then his favorite job, the Dorian Woodwind Quintet, all the while teaching at Brooklyn and Hunter Colleges.

The Dorians were a brilliant collection of musicians who worked and played together beautifully. They were commissioned to play all over the world and Barry played with them for years. As the freelance music scene changed in NYC, Barry was offered the position of professor of music with the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Barry accepted, married his second wife Deborah Lucchesi, and they moved to Shorewood, Wisconsin, each taking a son.

Barry lived and taught in Milwaukee for many years, making lifelong relationships with many students. When he retired, Barry and Deb moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvnaia. Deborah succumbed to cancer in 2020 and Barry settled in to assisted living. He rode out much of the pandemic there, then moved to Fairfield, Connecticut to be near his son. He was very much loved at that home until he passed on June 15, 2024 just a couple of months short of his 90th birthday.

Barry was an exceptional man. He was smart, talented, very funny, an amazing storyteller, grounded in common sense, kind and honest. He was a great father. He played music with love and expression. Music was his language. Even at the latter stage of life when words would escape him, music never did. He may not have been able to tell you about the music, but he would immediately burst into singing any piece of music requested; it was simply that much of him.  If you were around Barry, he left you better than when you met. He is missed and will always be. He is survived by his son Seth Benjamin and his grandchildren, Amanda Benjamin, Benjamin Boyle, Lars Boyle and Olivia Benjamin.

Obituary submitted by Seth Benjamin.