Barry D. Bowman, 90, passed away on October 10, 2026 at Fellowship Village in Basking Ridge.

Barry was born in a snowstorm on January 14, 1936, in Berwick, PA, the son of Wilma Mae and William Leroy Bowman.  He enjoyed the drama club and playing the oboe in the high school band, but his favorite activity was Boy Scouts where he earned the rank of Eagle Scout.  While attending the 3rd National Boy Scout Jamboree in Irvine Ranch, CA, in 1953, he was given a press pass and a front row seat, wiring articles each night to his hometown newspaper, the Berwick Enterprise.

At Penn State University, he received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Petroleum Engineering and was a founding member of the Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity chapter.  After graduation he worked for Pan American Petroleum in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.  After six moves in seven years, he tired of small town life and joined Chase Manhattan Bank’s Petroleum Division in NYC and moved to NJ.  He went on to earn an MBA from New York University.  Dean Witter Reynolds Tax-Advantaged Investments Division lured him away in 1983, but he returned to Chase Manhattan in 1986 for the remainder of his petroleum career.

Barry was active in the Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) and represented AIME in the United Engineering Society (now known as the United Engineering Foundation).

When not traveling on business, Barry took up weekends in skiing Vermont and was active in the St. Bart’s Theatre in Manhattan where his favorite starring roles were Lord Brockhurst in “The Boy Friend” and Cardinal Woolsey in “A Man for All Seasons”.

He met his future wife, Pamela, in a talent show in the Short Hills Ski Club. (“Pam was the talent, I was the emcee,” he always insisted.). They were married December 15, 1973, in the New Providence Presbyterian Church where they raised their family: Elizabeth (“Beth”) born in 1975, and Brent, in 1977.  Barry loved being a dad, introducing his children to Ocean City, NJ, for their annual first-week-of-the-summer vacation; doing Scout activities with Brent and teaching him to root for Penn State and the Steelers; refereeing Beth’s swim meets and even helping to clean the Berkeley Aquatic pool.

An avid birdwatcher, Barry volunteered at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in New Vernon, NJ, where he welcomed guests and grew the used books sales profits.  His presentation on “The Glacier and the Great Swamp” received multiple invitations from local organizations.  Barry had a wonderful sense of humor and will be remembered for his great laugh.  He loved to be “anywhere there was a nice beach” and sat by the ocean in places such as Tahiti, the Caribbean, Mexico, Zanzibar, and, of course, the Jersey Shore.  He was kind and friendly, always easy to strike up a conversation.  Behind the scenes, Barry was generous and quietly supported friends and communities in need.

Barry is survived by his wife, Pamela; daughter, Elizabeth Jere, and son, Brent; grandson, Jack Jere; step-granddaughter, Jayah Harris; his sister, Wylla Mae “Bunny” Bitner; and many nieces and nephews.  Donations in his memory may be made to the Friends of the Great Swamp (friendsofgreatswamp.org), 32 Pleasant Plains Road, Basking Ridge, NJ. 07920.  Arrangements are by Layton Funeral Home, 475 Main Street, Bedminster.