Friends, City Leaders Remember Barry

'Class and Grace' Are Recalled

Hundreds of mourners filed past the closed coffin of former District first lady Effi Barry yesterday, paying respects to a reserved, regal woman who endured trouble with grace and dignity.

A steady stream of people -- old, young, dressed up, casually attired -- came to the marble entrance hall of the John A. Wilson Building, where Barry's body lay in repose from 10 a.m. to midnight. The viewing continues from 6 to 9 a.m. today, with services at 11 a.m. at Washington National Cathedral.

Barry, 63, who had acute myeloid leukemia, died Sept. 6 at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis. During her 14-year marriage to former mayor and current D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), she was praised for her stoicism and calm during difficult times. An enduring image of her was formed during her husband's 1990 trial on charges stemming from a sex and drug scandal as she sat each day in federal court, quietly hooking a rug.

Many of the mourners hugged her former husband as he stood to the side with their son, Christopher, for the first hour of viewing yesterday. "God bless you," one woman said to Barry. "Your mom was a beautiful woman," another told Christopher Barry.

Marion Barry said he appreciated the public response.

"I thank God for Effi," he said. "I thank God for her service. I thank God for the people who are recognizing her service by coming to offer prayers, condolences and their love."

The former first lady's coffin, made of cherry and placed on a landing above three marble steps, was covered with a spray of pink and white lilies and red and pink roses. A half-dozen other floral arrangements, including one with a peace sign, were arrayed around it.

To the left, on an easel, was a large portrait of Effi Barry in a gilt frame. In it, she is smiling, her hair dark and full, and wearing an elegant black dress and pearl earrings. Many of the mourners took photographs of it with their cellphones.

The event was, at turns, both political and extremely personal. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), members of the D.C. Council and family friends attended an early, private prayer vigil conducted by the Rev. Milton Williams of St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, the church Effi Barry attended.

"There are two words that come to mind, and have always come to mind, when you talk about Effi Barry," Fenty said to reporters outside after the service, "and that's class and grace."

A half-dozen of Effi Barry's close female friends, including singer Mary Wilson of the Supremes and Carol Fennelly, an advocate for the homeless, laughed as they recalled "slumber parties" and fun trips. In December, when Barry's leukemia was in remission, the women met in Las Vegas to celebrate the birthday of another member of their group, Roscoe Dellums, the ex-wife of former congressman Ronald Dellums (D-Calif.).

"We became sisters," said Wilson, who met Effi Barry in 1990 and came from her Las Vegas home for the funeral. "It was like 'Waiting to Exhale,' " she said, referring to the Terry McMillan novel about female friendships. "It was all love."