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Leon “Chu” Berry

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Leon “Chu” Berry

Birth
Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia, USA
Death
31 Oct 1941 (aged 33)
Conneaut, Ashtabula County, Ohio, USA
Burial
Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia, USA GPS-Latitude: 40.0600861, Longitude: -80.6807111
Plot
Sec: Pen, Lot 31, Grave E-3
Memorial ID
View Source
Jazz Musician, better known as "Chu" Barry. A saxophonist, had his life not been prematurely shortened, many jazz aficionados suggest that he might have become the most significant jazz saxophonists of the 20th century. Among the major groups with which he played were the bands of Benny Carter, Teddy Hill, Fletcher Henderson and Cab Calloway. He was named to "Metronome" magazines All-Star Bands of 1937 and 1938 that included Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey, Harry James, Jack Teagarden, Teddy Wilson, Bob Haggart, Gene Krupa and Ella Fitzgerald. He died as the result of injuries he received in an accident near Conneaut, Ohio three days earlier while a passenger in an auto taking members of the Cab Calloway Band to an engagement in Toronto. He was initially interred in Peninsula Cemetery. In 1964, part of Peninsula Cemetery was excavated to make room for the I-70 Wheeling Tunnel thoroughfare. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Wheeling with his mother & father. He is not in Mt. Zion Cemetery.
Jazz Musician, better known as "Chu" Barry. A saxophonist, had his life not been prematurely shortened, many jazz aficionados suggest that he might have become the most significant jazz saxophonists of the 20th century. Among the major groups with which he played were the bands of Benny Carter, Teddy Hill, Fletcher Henderson and Cab Calloway. He was named to "Metronome" magazines All-Star Bands of 1937 and 1938 that included Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey, Harry James, Jack Teagarden, Teddy Wilson, Bob Haggart, Gene Krupa and Ella Fitzgerald. He died as the result of injuries he received in an accident near Conneaut, Ohio three days earlier while a passenger in an auto taking members of the Cab Calloway Band to an engagement in Toronto. He was initially interred in Peninsula Cemetery. In 1964, part of Peninsula Cemetery was excavated to make room for the I-70 Wheeling Tunnel thoroughfare. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Wheeling with his mother & father. He is not in Mt. Zion Cemetery.


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  • Maintained by: Peace4me
  • Added: Nov 2, 2000
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18230/leon-berry: accessed ), memorial page for Leon “Chu” Berry (13 Sep 1908–31 Oct 1941), Find a Grave Memorial ID 18230, citing Greenwood Cemetery, Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia, USA; Maintained by Peace4me (contributor 47513010).