LP Gas Hall of Fame profile: Bob Barry

The 2026 LP Gas Hall of Fame dinner and induction ceremony will take place April 18 at the Omni Nashville Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. This year’s inductees are Joe Armentano of Paraco Gas, Bob Barry of Bergquist, Denis Gagne of Eastern Propane & Oil and Brian Sheehan of Rural Computer Consultants. Visit the LP Gas Hall of Fame website.

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Bob Barry’s Hall of Fame story is filled with life lessons.

From his early days growing up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to leading wholesale propane equipment distributor Bergquist Inc. 50 miles to the south in Toledo, Ohio, Barry established a set of values that would guide his personal and professional life and endear others to him.

It’s the story of an Indiana-born accountant who grew to enjoy the work of his family’s company and the industry it served – setting the tone for his propane-focused career.

“In the beginning, it was exciting; it was challenging,” he recalls. “Convincing people that an accountant could run a company was part of the leadership role I had to take on.”

Barry convinced them that he could do that and more. As the leader of Bergquist, he prioritized people, always choosing to do what was best for his employees, his customers and the industry. In the process, he left a lasting impression.

“Bergquist is unique because of Bob Barry,” shares Joe Montroy, vice president of sales for the company. He adds, “We put the needs of others before our own. It has become second nature for us because Bob stresses that what improves our industry helps us all.”

▶ Trust in good teachers

Would you believe in a time when Barry, the eventual accountant, didn’t like math? He had envisioned becoming a chemical engineer like his father and started college at the University of Michigan. But he didn’t like math, so he dropped out to further what would become a five-year career at McDonald’s.

“I was a level before store manager, and I just got tired of working nights and weekends,” Barry says. “We had a growing family, and I just quit and went back to school.”

His management experience at McDonald’s, analyzing the monthly profit and loss statements, combined with a business school curriculum for an accounting degree at Eastern Michigan University, led him on a new path.

“You had to take the beginning accounting class, and I had a very good professor there, a woman who encouraged me,” he says. “I did well, and she encouraged me to keep on doing accounting. So, I did.”

▶ Find your calling and enjoy what you do

Barry never planned on making a part-time controller role at Bergquist into a full-fledged career after his father-in-law, Larry Hinkley, bought the company in 1986.

At the time, Bergquist only had seven employees and the one location in Toledo. Barry was already working full time as a partner in a small public accounting firm, and he had planned to stay on that track.

But there was something special about working for Hinkley, whom Barry calls “a very patient human being, a very good teacher and incredibly knowledgeable about propane and propane equipment,” that was just too good to pass up.

Barry enjoyed learning about the wholesale distribution business, setting up systems and processes. On some afternoons, he’d head to the warehouse and pack boxes.

“I liked very much working for my father-in-law,” he says. “We were growing the company, and the industry was growing, too, in Michigan and Ohio.”

Later that year, Barry said goodbye to public accounting and became a full-time employee at Bergquist. Even more exciting times were ahead.

▶ Pay your dues, and opportunities will follow

Barry recalls attending the Michigan summer convention early in his career, as he began to learn more about the propane industry.

“First and foremost, the people,” he says of his attraction to propane. “There are a lot of great people, and it’s enjoyable to be around good conversations.”

Barry liked the new path he chose. And when Hinkley started to consider retirement, Barry became his natural successor. In 1995, Barry took the reins as president and CEO of Bergquist and, with his wife Linda, became part owner of the company.

Under Barry, Bergquist expanded into Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri and Minnesota, as it sought to increase its economies of scale and supply propane marketers with needed products.

“We worked at it,” Barry says of growing the company into what is today a national and international equipment supplier with fewer locations. “It wasn’t just me. I had a good team.”

▶ Be prepared for the unexpected

His team was especially crucial when Barry’s life took an unexpected turn in 1999. A serious car accident hospitalized him for 60 days with a traumatic brain injury that erased much of his memory.

“I didn’t know my wife’s name in the beginning. I didn’t remember my kids’ names,” he explains. “Most of that eventually came back, but I was lucky. It doesn’t always happen that way with traumatic brain injuries.”

Barry was only four years in as president and CEO of Bergquist when the accident occurred. Hinkley and Jim Sherwood, then vice president of sales, ran the company in his absence.

“We had a good team,” Barry says again.

▶ Get involved

From the outset, Barry held a strong belief that employees should participate in the industry that allows them to make a living.

“My skill set is accounting, so I volunteered to be on the audit committee for the National Propane Gas Association (NPGA),” he says, adding, “which is an easy thing to do because no one wants to be on the audit committee. There’s not a lot of people with accounting skills that are involved in the NPGA on a regular basis.”

Barry has served as chair for much of his two-decades-long run on the committee. Though he retired from Bergquist in 2023, he continues to chair that committee.

That committee experience introduced Barry to many industry members, and it only led to his increasing involvement and leadership in association work and, eventually, his role as an NPGA officer, chair of its executive committee during the heart of COVID-19 and its chairman of the board in 2021.

His participation also extended to the Propane Education & Research Council, where he served six years as a councilor, which included two years as treasurer.

“Under Bob’s leadership and guidance, Bergquist stands out in its level of volunteer leadership and engagement across NPGA, PERC and state and regional associations – not to mention their extraordinary generosity in supporting industry initiatives,” NPGA President and CEO Stephen Kaminski says.

Barry has also drawn praise for his support of female leaders in the industry. He was a significant voice in the selection of Michelle Bimson Maggi becoming NPGA’s first female board chair in 2022, and he stepped down as Bergquist CEO to allow Lauren Clark, his daughter, to take his place in 2020.

“Bob is a steadfast advocate for women in propane leadership – and not just in word, but in action,” Kaminski says.

Barry turns 70 in May, and he and Linda will celebrate 50 years of marriage in August. They’ve raised three kids (Katie, Jake and Lauren) and have enjoyed seven grandchildren.

Asked about where he feels he made the largest impact in the propane industry, Barry says, “Just participating in whatever and wherever I could and allowing the Bergquist team to participate wherever they could and however they wanted to. It’s just being involved and applying your skills where they can be used.”