DeBerry attended North Carolina A&T he participated in four varsity sports: football, basketball, baseball, and track. He received his PhD degree from NYU. Dr. DeBerry served as Principal of the Bladen County Training School/Bladen Central High School in Elizabethtown, NC. He also served on the staff at Winston Salem State University. Dr. DeBerry was married to Nellie Hunter DeBerry and had one son. He died on October 11, 1969, at L. Richardson in Greensboro, North Carolina, following a short illness.[3]