BARRIE, Jeffrey Jeffrey E. Barrie died March 8, 2007, when the taxi he was taking from the airport to his home in Moscow, Russia, lost control. Born Jan. 6, 1941, in Baltimore, Md., Jeffrey moved with his family to Westchester, N.Y., in 1952. After graduating from The Citadel in 1963, he began a 20-year career in the U.S. Army, which included a tour as the commander of the South Atlantic Outport in Charleston. After serving first in Germany and then two years in Vietnam, Jeff went on to receive a master’s degree in Russian studies in preparation for the assignment that was to change his life: In 1980 he joined the U.S. Embassy as a military attaché. In the next three years, Jeff visited more than 70 cities in the USSR, learning to speak fluent Russian and developing a fascination with the culture that would shape the rest of his life. Jeff’s retirement from the Army as a lieutenant colonel in 1983 coincided with the emergence of perestroika. Jeff returned to Moscow as a private citizen and for the rest of his career acted as a consultant to American and Canadian companies entering the Russian market and to Russian firms eager for U.S. sales. This doesn’t begin to describe the depth and breadth of Jeff’s curiosity and enthusiasms. His family is comforted by the fact that Jeff had said there was nothing in his life he wanted to experience left undone. Surviving are his mother, Mickey Barrie of Fort Lee, N.J.; his brother, Andy Barrie of Toronto, Canada; his sons, Marc Barrie of Moscow, Russia, and Brian Barrie of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., as well as their mother, Frances Barrie of Charleston, S.C.; grandchildren Katya Barrie of Moscow, Russia, and Evan Barrie of Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; his second wife, Maureen Barrie of Marblehead, Mass.; and his partner in Moscow, Marina Barkoskya, who survived the car accident that claimed his life. Jeff’s ashes will be divided, with half to be buried in a military cemetery in the United States and the rest to be buried in the Russian soil his grandparents left a hundred years ago. A celebration of Jeff’s life is being planned to take place in the Charleston area this spring. Family and friends are asked to register their contact information at www.jeffbarrie.com. Visit our guestbook at www.charleston.net/deaths. Published in the Charleston Post & Courier on 3/21/2007.
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