Law was Barrett Franklin Kalb’s profession — and a successful one it was — but “flying was his passion,” his family said.
Mr. Kalb “traveled the country for work and fun in his beloved Beechcraft Bonanza with a distinctive Spider-Man painted on the side, often with his children sitting co-pilot.” With airport friends, “he often honored the pilot tradition of the ‘$100 hamburger,’ ” flying to an airport just for lunch and then back home. Sometimes, he would rise before dawn, “throw a companion in the plane, and fly down to the Florida Keys to grab a slice of Key lime pie and sometimes a round of golf too. He enjoyed meeting and making friends on the golf course more than almost anything else.”
Mr. Kalb, who was known as Barry, died at home in New Bern, N.C., on Dec. 11 “after a long life lived on his own terms,” his family said. He was 94 and had a house for many years on Surf Drive in Amagansett. He had split his time between Amagansett and New Jersey for nearly 40 years.
Mr. Kalb was born in Newark on July 27, 1931, to Harry Kalb and the former Mae Ashen. He grew up in Maplewood, N.J., and was a star athlete at Columbia High School there. He went on to graduate with a degree in accounting from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he was involved in the honor council, the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity, football, and soccer, serving as team captain. In 1956, he finished at Rutgers Law School and was admitted to the New Jersey and New York bars. He served as a naval reservist during this time and became a certified public accountant.
“One of his first jobs was as an accountant with his father, Harry, in offices above a deli in South Orange, N.J.,” his family said. “The smell from the hot pickle barrels in the summertime gave him a deep and lifelong abhorrence of the things. The same did not apply to hot dogs, which he would have eaten for every meal if his doctor or wife would allow it.”
When he started his law career in Newark, he and his partner, John Blume, shared a single desk. “Their first client paid them by installing an air-conditioner in the office.” He built the firm into one with “a reputation for expertise in commercial litigation and business transactions.” In 1992, he took his experience to the firm Bendit Weinstock, where he was of counsel and active into his 90s. “Over the course of his career, he was frequently appointed by the courts to serve in positions of high trust, including as a special master, guardian, and receiver.”
Mr. Kalb was also an entrepreneur whose assortment of ventures and investments over the years were “more successful than not, and always interesting,” according to his family — a restaurant called the George Inn, a series of rural billboards, a helipad on the Hudson River.
“He appreciated art, and had more pieces in his collection than space to hang them,” they said. “He also enjoyed photography, woodworking, and once built a kit car in his garage.”
His house in Amagansett, once the home of the novelist Joseph Heller, “was a treasured refuge, and he loved to meet friends early for breakfast outside the Amagansett Farmers Market.” He tried for years to no avail to have Heller sign a copy of one of his books for display at the house.
He was proud of his children — Kathy Ann Kalb of West Orange, N.J., Carolyn Marr of Rhinebeck, N.Y., Amanda Lannon Kalb of Chevy Chase, Md., and Ashur Barrett Kalb of Warwick, N.Y. With Ashur, “he shared a love of flying, entrepreneurship, science fiction, and taking things apart to understand how they work.”
A newborn granddaughter, Ada Astra Tolman Kalb, also survives, as does Mr. Kalb’s wife, Nadia Alexandre Kalb, who cared for him in his final years. They were married in 2023.
“Barry spent his life helping other people solve their problems,” his family said. “When people tell stories about him, those are the stories they tell most often: Barry stepping in to help. He leaves a legacy of professional excellence, love of adventure, and a family who will remember him always.”
A service is to be held at the Cotten Funeral Home in New Bern on Jan. 13 at 11 a.m. Mr. Kalb was cremated; his family is hoping to spread his ashes in the Atlantic and possibly launch “a portion into space.”
