Barry Gill
Barry Gill
Longtime Napa resident Barry Gill died Feb. 21, 2011 at home with his wife, Chenue, by his side. Barry was an accomplished high school English teacher who reinvented himself as a business owner, buying Optimum Foods, a health and vitamin store in 1985. He met Chenue shortly after buying Optimum and she became his business partner and beloved wife for the next 24 years of his life.
Barry was born in Minneapolis, the youngest child of Thomas Gill and Anastasia Grace, in 1921. He was active in World War II as a code breaker and decipherer, after which he attended St. John’s College in Minnesota and earned a B.A. in philosophy. With his first wife, Rosemary, he moved to California and had six children, settling in Napa in 1955.
He earned his teaching credential and a masters at UC, Berkeley and San Francisco State, respectively, and set out on a long and satisfying career teaching English and humanities at Napa High School and Vintage High. He also taught writing at the Institute of Culture and Creation Spirituality at Holy Names College in Oakland, and philosophy to prisoners at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville. He was an accomplished writer and poet.
Barry served on the Napa City Council for six years from 1962 to 1968, where he worked to assure an enduring water supply for the city and proudly voted to acquire the land for Kennedy Park. Active in politics on the national level as well, he served as the head of the Napa Democratic Party and was a mainstay of Napa’s political scene for many years, advocating for peace and civil rights.
Barry is survived by his five children: Kristin Traylor of Vallejo, Peter Gill of Oakland, Thomas Gill of Napa, Ellen Young of San Jose, and Mary Cage of Chattanooga; and five grandchildren: Prentest Traylor of Vallejo, Marisa Traylor and Katrina Traylor, both of Oakland, and Caitlin Gill and Nathan Dumas, both of Napa. Barry’s son, Jeremy, preceded him in death. He also shared two daughters with Chenue: Carrie Ann Colton of Novato and Colleen Colton Price of Chattanooga, and three grandchildren, Colton and Kierra Kavanagh, both of Novato, and Spencer Peck of Chattanooga.
A funeral mass will be held for Barry on Monday, Feb. 28, at 11 a.m. at St. Leo’s church in Sonoma. A public memorial to celebrate his full and productive life will be held at a later date, and will be announced here.
The family thanks the helpful staff at Queen of the Valley Hospital and Piner’s Nursing Home. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Napa Hospice or St. Leo’s Catholic Church. Condolences for the family may be sent to Claffey and Rota at services@claffeyandrota.com.