Tobias G. Barry, Jr. (April 12, 1924 – April 4, 2017) was an American politician in the state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Early life

Barry was born in Chicago on April 12, 1924, to Tobias Barry Sr. who represented the area in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

until his death in 1958. Barry is an alumnus of

St. Bede Academy Saint Bede Academy is a private, four-year, Catholic college-preparatory high school located in Peru, Illinois. The campus buildings and monastery are situated on 800 acres of wooded land. The monastery is home to 12 Benedictine monks who have tak ...

, LaSalle-Peru-Oglesby (LPO) Junior College,

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

, and the University of Notre Dame School of Law. His studies were interrupted by three years of service with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

where he served in the Pacific theatre and participated in the

Battle of Iwo Jima The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJ ...

and the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

. Barry passed the bar in 1952 and began practicing law in 1953. He started his own law firm in 1958.

Legislative career

In the 1958 general election, Barry, self-identifying as a Democrat, ran for the Illinois House of Representatives as an independent. After an initial loss to Democratic incumbent William C. Hollerich, a recount put Barry ahead of Hollerich. Ultimately a House Committee opted to keep Hollerich as the elected representative when it met to resolve the elections of the 40th district and 46th district. In 1960, Barry was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives from the 40th district. He was credited with laying the legislative groundwork for the construction of Interstate 39 and a section of it is named in his honor.

Judicial career

In the 1974 general election, he opted to run for a position as an Appellate Judge on the Third Judicial Court in lieu of running for reelection to the House. He was succeeded in the Illinois House by Richard Mautino. In 1990, Barry ran against fellow Appellate Judge and Republican candidate

James D. Heiple James D. Heiple (September 13, 1933 – January 18, 2021) was an American attorney and jurist. He was elected as a justice of the Illinois Supreme Court in 1990, and went on to serve as its chief justice briefly in 1997, and continued to serve o ...

for the vacancy created by the retirement of

Howard C. Ryan Howard C. Ryan (June 17, 1916 - December 10, 2008) was an Illinois attorney and judge, including service as judge of the Supreme Court of Illinois (1970 to 1990), and that court's Chief Justice (1982–1985). Early and family life A native of T ...

. Heiple won by a margin of only 2,827 votes (50.33% to 49.67%). Each candidate won a large plurality in his home county, while the vote in other counties closely followed party lines. Barry retired from the bench in 1994. During his time on the bench, Barry served on the Administrative Committee and the Illinois Supreme Court's committee on legislative affairs. He also served as Presiding Judge of the Third District and of the Appellate Court's Industrial Commission Division. In 2001, Governor George Ryan appointed Barry to the

Illinois Gaming Board Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) is a gaming board in Illinois that controls the state's gaming industry. The Board controls a regulatory and tax collection for video gaming and riverboat casinos. The Board has a five members, selected by the Govern ...

. Later that year, Barry was appointed as one of the commissioners of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. In 2002, Barry was appointed to serve on the Illinois Appellate Court for a two-year term to fill the vacancy left by Thomas Homer's retirement. He retired from law practice in 2006. Barry died April 4, 2017, at age 92.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Tobias 1924 births 2017 deaths Judges of the Illinois Appellate Court Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives People from Bureau County, Illinois Politicians from Chicago Military personnel from Illinois Illinois Valley Community College alumni Marquette University alumni Notre Dame Law School alumni 20th-century American judges United States Navy personnel of World War II