Effi Barry, the District’s former first lady who remained with her husband even through the worst of scandal, died Thursday in an Annapolis hospital after succumbing to cancer. She was 63.
Diagnosed with leukemia in late 2005, for which she was being treated at Johns Hopkins, Barry used her noble repute and her position as ex-wife of former Mayor Marion Barry to bring attention to her illness, and to urge more blacks to be listed on the bone marrow transplant registry. She recently worked for the D.C. Department of Health on HIV/AIDS related initiatives, especially those focused east of the Anacostia River.
Effi Barry and her husband, who had a son, Christopher, divorced in 1993 after 14 years. They separated in 1990, months after Marion Barry was arrested for smoking crack cocaine, set-up by his mistress turned FBI informant. Effi Barry, who endured the 10-week trial from the courtroom, would later describe that troubling period, on the Oprah show, as a “time of doubt, complete frustration, sorrow and confusion.”
“She represented our city well,” said H.R. Crawford, former Ward 7 D.C. Council member. “She had an overwhelming sensitivity to the various issues and even in ill health she gave so much back to us.”
Marion Barry had not released a statement as of early Thursday afternoon.
