Shelter Island Reporter obituary: Edward E. Barr
Edward E. Barr of Shelter Island, and Naples, Fla., died on February 13, 2026, at 89. He took his last ride on his beloved North Ferry at the end of October. His heart remained always on Shelter Island, where he will now rest.
Born on Oct. 17, 1936, Ed was the eldest child of Dora A. Hadley and Edward E. Barr. He grew up in Reading, Penn. In 1953 Ed went left instead of right while a student at Reading High School and his whole life changed. He read a notice about a scholarship competition and a year later he found himself walking under the Washington Square Arch before starting classes at New York University’s School of Commerce (now NYU Stern School of Business) where he graduated in 1957.
He received a Masters in Economics from University of Michigan and pivoted to a career in business, joining Sun Chemical Corporation in 1962 as Assistant to the President. There he rose to President, CEO and Chairman, having grown the company from $25 million in sales to over $3.5 billion, and making it and its then parent company Dainippon Ink Corporation the world’s largest international producer of graphic arts materials and ink.
Ed never really retired. Always a lifelong learner, his interests shifted to Silicon Valley, where he was a successful venture capitalist.
While Ed traveled around the world for work, his heart truly lay on Shelter Island, where he first bought a small house in Silver Beach in 1969 before moving to the Heights and Ram Island. He was the last surviving founding member of the Shelter Island Heights Property Owners Corporation and served on its Board from 2000-2006.
Earlier, Ed led the effort to rescue the Heights Beach Club from disrepair and financial difficulties, making it a place where generations of families and children played and found community.
Ed was a longstanding member of the Shelter Island Yacht Club and the Gardiner’s Bay Country Club as well as an enthusiastic supporter of the Shelter Island Historical Society and the Shelter Island Library, including the latter’s renovation and improvement.
Ed was especially proud of his service to Shelter Island as President of the North Ferry Company from 2001-2006. During that time, Ed led the North Ferry through a major upgrade and renovation of its fleet and docking infrastructure. He worked tirelessly to secure the capital and financing to build three new and significantly larger ferries (MV Mashomack, MV Menantic, and MV Manhanset) and lay the groundwork for a fourth (MV Menhaden). Ed’s leadership allowed Shelter Island to adapt to its growing popularity with relatively short ferry lines, while maintaining the ferry as an efficient and affordable option for Shelter Islanders, especially year-round residents.
Ed believed in the adage: To those whom much is given, much is expected. In addition to serving on the boards of several companies and civic and philanthropic organizations, Ed remained an active NYU alumnus and longtime member of the Board of Overseers for Stern, helping to pioneer its first global immersion program for undergraduate business students. He particularly enjoyed mentoring high school and college students on Shelter Island, in southwest Florida, and at NYU.
Ed is survived by Nancy Chevalier Barr, the love of his life and wife for nearly 53 years; his sisters Francia Marshall and Pamela Barr; his children Uta Hershey and Edward Barr (with the late Erika Wiese Barr), Christopher Barr, and Andrew Barr; his children-in-law Robert L. Hershey, Jennifer Pierce Barr, Hilary Oat-Judge, and Susana Lee Barr; and 8 grandchildren.
A memorial service for Ed will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 20, 2026, at Union Chapel in the Grove in the Heights. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, Texas 77030: Friends of the Shelter Island Public Library, shelterislandpubliclibrary.org/member-form; or the Shelter Island History Museum, [email protected].
