Bernard Sloan

1919 - 2021

Bernard Henry "Barney" Sloan



Bernard Henry ("Barney") Sloan passed away peacefully in Albuquerque on May 13, 2021, surrounded by his family. He was 102 years old. Barney was a farmer in his youth, a soldier in his twenties, a postwar father of seven, a successful businessman and, in his later years, a beloved family elder to his large, extended family.

Barney was born on the Sloan family farm near Hoopeston, Illinois, on January 31, 1919, to John Henry and Ellen (Colgan) Sloan. The third of five children, he was born into the worst of the Spanish Influenzaâ€"the first pandemic of his long life and one that killed his brother, John Francis, just weeks before Barney was born. He learned the value of hard work in his early years, working the fields with horses and mulesâ€"animals that would shape his future in unexpected ways.

A graduate of the University of Illinois in June 1941 (B.S. Animal Husbandry), he was immediately drafted into the then-peacetime U.S. Army. Following Pearl Harbor, he was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division, in part due to his skill with horses and mules. Ironically, the Division soon dismounted, switching from animals to trucks and jeeps. Barney adapted, becoming a logistics expert in moving needed materials from landing craft to front lines.

Barney fought with the 1st Cavalry throughout the entire war: from Ft. Bliss, Texas, to Brisbane, Australia, then on to battles in the Admiralty Islands, New Guinea, and the Philippines. On September 2, 1945, he was aboard a ship in Tokyo Bay as the surrender documents were signed on the USS Missouri. He finished the war as a Captain. He remained a proud World War II veteran the rest of his life.

Though he endured grim moments in the war, Barney emerged with body and spirit intact. He painted a more peaceful war for his growing kids in the 1950s and '60s, his tall stories populated by giant pythons, boinging kangaroos, and an unfortunate tiger Barney famously turned inside out by reaching into its mouth, grabbing its tail, and yanking hard. To his children, he had been on the coolest four-year campout ever. His real war stories didn't emerge until his kids were well into middle age and, he judged, able to handle the realities of war.

Another notable event occurred while Barney was overseas. In 1943, he was introduced by mail to Margaret "Peg" Dalton through a mutual friend. Their two-year V-mail courtship blossomed on Barney's return from the war. They met for the first time in Chicago's Union Station in 1946. He had written to her to look for a soldier with a horse's head on his shoulder; she spotted his 1st Cavalry insignia on the first try. They were married at Maternity B.V.M. Church in Chicago on April 19, 1947.

Peg gave birth to seven childrenâ€"a half-dozen boys and a girlâ€"and she and Barney raised six. Their first, James Bernard, was born prematurely in 1948 and died at two days of age. The six who followed enjoyed robust health and kept Barney on his paternal toes until the day he died. Barney and Peg were married 69 years, inseparable until Peg's death in 2017.

Barney will be remembered for his love of family and of life, his sense of fairness and kindness to all, his humility, quiet humor, and his willingness to go on adventures, whether learning to ski in his 70s, visiting the World War II Memorial in Washington in his 90s, or riding up a Taos Ski Valley chairlift at 101 for beer and banter at 11,000 feet. Barney, a life-long baseball fan, attended an Albuquerque Isotopes minor league game three days before his death; the home team unfortunately got clobbered.

Barney Sloan is preceded in death by his wife, Peg, his son James Bernard, and by his siblings John Francis, Donald, Nicholas, and Sister Mary Ellen Sloan. He is survived by his children Bernard (Sharon Stoerger), Stephen (Carrie), Mark (Elisabeth Chicoine), John Henry (Susan Lindner), Mary Ellen Murnane (Patrick) and Christopher (Mary). He leaves 16 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Barney is also survived by his loving brothers- and sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, many other relatives, and countless friends.

The family wishes to thank Jon Brennan, Glenn McLaughlin, Angela Cruz and Lorena Benevidez for their friendship and loving care in Barney's final years. A special thanks to Lisa Brennan, Amber Sutton, and the staff at Manzano Medical Group for their love, boundless good humor, and endless supply of Cheetos and Pepsi.

Private funeral services will be held in Albuquerque. A celebration of Barney Sloan's life will take place in Chicago this fall.