By Rebecca Goodman
Enquirer staff writer

MOUNT LOOKOUT - Barry Stulbarg was described by his daughter Jan Cleary of Mount Lookout as a Renaissance man of a bygone era.

"I don't meet people like my dad because after him they broke the mold," she said.

Mr. Stulbarg was of the generation who experienced - in his case, as an Army artillery captain in the South Pacific - World War II. He was from a pre-technology era when families spent time together without TV and computers, enjoying such pastimes as playing bridge and riding horses. He was an expert dancer and loved to read. He never complained - he was far too well-bred for that.

He was special, his daughter said. And everyone who knew him knew it.

Mr. Stulbarg went to his office regularly until about a month before he died July 21 at Hospice of Cincinnati in Blue Ash. The Mount Lookout resident was 86.

Born in Cincinnati, his given name was Saul and his surname Stuhlbarg. He was the son of Russian and German immigrants who had changed their name from Stuhlbarg after they arrived in America.

"I think it was my uncle Milt (Barry's brother) - he was the progressive one - who dropped the second "h" because it wasn't pronounced and everybody was forever getting it wrong," his daughter said. "My dad dropped it after my uncle dropped it, but the rest of us kept it."

Mr. Stulbarg was a member of the Walnut Hills High School class of 1936 and went on to study business at the University of Cincinnati.

A piano and guitar player, he started a swing band - Barry Stulbarg's Band - when he was a college student at the height of the classic swing era.

When the United States entered World War II, he served on the island of Tonga in the South Pacific, then came home to join his family's business - Norwood Paint and Hardware. In 1952, he changed the name to Norwood Hardware and Supply Co., when he made it a supplier for builders. He eventually sold the business and it is operated today, under the same name, in Evendale.

Mr. Stulbarg also developed and managed residential and commercial real estate. He was still involved in the business he and his wife, Lenore, owned called the B&L Company before his death.

He was a fan of contract bridge and even wrote a book - Bridge Barry's Way - which he used to teach at the Ridge Club in Cincinnati and the Hamlet in Delray Beach, Fla.

A member of Rockdale Temple, Mr. Stulbarg was a former president of Jewish Family Service, a Kentucky Colonel and a member of the Toastmasters and Losantiville Country Club.

"My dad will forever be remembered for his gentle spirit, kind and caring demeanor along with his quiet and humble strength," said another daughter, Ellie Bentz of Hyde Park.

In addition to his daughters, survivors include his wife of 38 years, Lenore Stulbarg; a third daughter, Kathie Stuhlbarg of Mount Lookout; a stepson, Peter Marcus of East Walnut Hills; a stepdaughter, Sally Marcus Garrett of Laguna Beach, Calif.; a brother, David Stuhlbarg of Chicago; and nine grandchildren.

Services were held.

Memorials: Planned Parenthood, 2314 Auburn Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45219 or Hospice of Cincinnati, 4310 Cooper Road, Cincinnati, OH 45242-5613.