Frank Barry was born on April 16, 1913 in London, UK and died on July 31, 2013 in Mississauga. During the war 1939-1945, he worked as an architectural draughtsman and served in the Royal Air Force, where he contributed a number of witty cartoons to the squadron newsletter. He met his wife, Patricia Rawlinson, in 1944 (while in he was in the RAF) and they married in northern India in 1945. They had two children, Ailsa and Christopher.

After the war, he studied painting and teaching at the Ealing School of Art in London, UK from 1946 to 1950. In 1950-51, he studied at Hornsey School of Art, also in London, England. From 1951 to 1963, he was an Art Master at the Carisbrooke Grammar School on the Isle of Wight, UK. He moved to Montreal with his family in 1963 and taught art at the Northmount High School. He entered Sir George Williams University and graduated with a MA in Art Education in 1969. He was appointed lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts at SGWU in 1967-1968 and was promoted assistant professor of Fine Arts (Art Education) in 1973. He retired in June 1978 but continued teaching as part-time lecturer until 1981-1982.