Ronald William Hamilton Barr

Ronald William Hamilton Barr, age 83, of Newport, died Friday, March 31, 2017 at home. Ronald was born August 8, 1933, in Deolali, India. He is the son of the late Henry William and the late Maisie (Hamilton-Littlewood) Barr. He was the husband of Nancy Scott for the last 10 years. After spending his early years in India and Australia, Ron returned to England to be educated. He emigrated to the US in 1961. In 1968, Ron became an instructor at Outward Bound: a program for troubled youth to learn and experience living off the land and sea. He started his own school afloat called Oceanus School of The Sea offering educational sailing expeditions on his 47 foot ketch the Snowshoe and later on his 60 foot yawl Cibola while sailing the Atlantic and Caribbean. Ron was published in several sailing magazines, most notably Cruising World. In 1978, the Cibola was the first US yacht to officially enter Cuba after a 19 year hiatus with Ron as its Captain and owner. An avid sailor, adventurer, gardener and world traveler, he settled in Newport where he founded the Armchair Sailor Book Store in 1979. For 20 years, it was a mecca for book lovers and sailors from around the world. Besides his wife, Nancy, he is survived by his daughter, Denice Wuerthele and her husband Glen of Palmer, MA, his son, Stephen Barr and his wife Lea of Langhorne, PA, a sister, June Montgomery of Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ, 4 grandchildren, Gavin Barr and Carena Barr of Langhorne, PA, Joshua Wuerthele of Port Chester, NY, and Kellsey Wuerthele of Boston, MA, a great grandson, Declan Wuerthele, a niece, Fiona McNamara, and a nephew, Jeremy Miller.A celebration of his life will be held at, 1:30 pm, on Friday, April 7, 2017, at St. Columba Berkeley Chapel, Vaucluse Avenue, Middletown.In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Visiting Nurse Services of Newport Bristol Counties, 1184 East Main Road, Portsmouth, RI 02871. Service APR 7. 01:30 PM St. Columbas Berkeley Memorial Chapel Vaucluse Avenue Middletown, RI, US