GARDINER – Barry Gaugler, 56, of Gardiner, died at home on Jan. 16, after a brief battle with brain cancer.

He was a Pennsylvania Dutch artist and craftsman. He worked as a carpenter in the Green Mountains of Vermont, the Colorado Rockies, Washington’s Puget Sound and the mid coast of Maine. He was also a wood turner whose distinctive art highlighted the beauty of nature.

An avid naturalist and bird watcher, he reveled in the solitude of wild, desolate places, especially the high country of Northwestern Colorado. He particularly enjoyed the writing of Winston Churchill.

In 1968-69 he served with valor in the Army in Vietnam. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Delaware Valley College of Agriculture in 1980.

He is survived by his longtime companion, Bridget O’Rourke and her family from Wayne; sisters, Linda Weber, of Tunkhannock, Pa. and Susan Pirollo, of Bristol, Pa.; and a brother, Mark Gaugler, of Laureldale, Pa.