Barry Thomas Hargrave

Peacefully in Owen Sound, ON on May 20, 2025 at the age of 83. Born in Toronto, he was a son of the late Thomas Henry and Phyllis Jane (Salt) Hargrave. Barry discovered his interest in biology through a high school science fair project at Runnymede Collegiate, his first step towards a research career in freshwater and marine ecology. While at Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., he met Margot Horne. They were married after graduating with MSc degrees in 1966. They moved to Vancouver where Barry completed aPhD at the University of British Columbia. On graduating in 1969 he was awarded a two-year Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) NATO postdoctoral fellowship at the Freshwater Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen. In 1971 he accepted a position in the Marine Ecology Laboratory, Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO), Dartmouth, N.S., where he worked for 35 years. When he was starting university Barry thought he might like to be a teacher, a wish fulfilled in later years through honorary appointments in the Biology and Oceanography Departments at Dalhousie. He served on graduate student thesis committees and many honours, masters and PhD students joined him in research projects at BIO. Invitations to three NATO Advanced Study Institutes, universities (Sweden, Germany, Chile), marine laboratories (Woods Hole, MA and Bamfield, B.C.) and a one-year Canadian appointment to the International Atomic Energy Agency Marine Radioactivity Laboratory in Monaco provided opportunities to combine research, teaching and family travel. He co-authored two editions of a graduate level text book (Biological Oceanographic Processes). He was a member of NSERC’s research grants selection committee in Biology and chaired the Oceans and Multidisciplinary committees. His major research projects at BIO considered potential ecological effects of tidal power on intertidal areas of the inner Bay of Fundy, deep sea disposal of high level radioactive waste, the long range transport of atmospheric contaminants to the Arctic Ocean and benthic organic enrichment effects of salmon and mussel aquaculture. Moving back to Ontario in retirement he and Margot built a house on Georgian Bay near Owen Sound. Being able to watch sunrises over the water was a gift they shared each day. Barry’s family was the center of his life. He looked for hope and optimism in all things and could always find a silver lining in any situation. Special interests included a life-long love of photography, gardening, canoeing/kayaking, cross-country skiing and wine-making. He was a member and past-president of the Silver Cs in Owen Sound. He was pre-deceased by his brother Paul David (Linda), Ladner, B.C. Surviving are Margot, his cherished wife of 59 years, daughters Stephanie (Tom) (granddaughter Anja and grandson Henry Pink), Owen Sound, ON and Jennifer (grandsons William and Noah Leverman), Dartmouth, N.S., sister Lynne Phyllis Bowes (David), Peterborough, ON. With sincere appreciation for the care Barry received during his year-long journey with cancer from Dr. Aboo and the oncology support team working at Brightshores Health System, Owen Sound, donations may be made to the Canadian Cancer Society or Brightshores Health System Owen Sound Foundation.

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