Barrie James Sawyer

Barrie James Sawyer passed away peacefully with his family and friends at his side, after a long period of declining health. He was 3 days short of his 75th birthday. Barrie was born in Manchester, NH on May 29th, 1948, graduating from Straw School in 1962 and Manchester Central HS in 1966. After a year at the then Keene State College, he enlisted in the Army and spent most of his time at the US Army Natick Labs, participating as a test subject in a variety of studies including the effects of heat and cold and the development of an improved parachute harness. After the Army, he enrolled in the University of New Hampshire and graduated in 1974. His first job out of UNH was as a teacher in a small district. He was hired to teach science and ended up teaching everything but. During this time, he discovered an aptitude for computers and later had a long career as a computer programmer. Barrie had a lifelong passion for astronomy. Around the age of 12, September 1960, "...I took my first telescope out into our backyard in the middle of Manchester, NH to hunt for my first deep sky object. Over two hours later I found the great Hercules star cluster; a dense congregation of over 80,000 stars. I was captivated. I became a devoted amateur astronomer." Barrie owned numerous telescopes, including a 36" telescope affectionately known as Godzilla. He traveled extensively for astronomy gatherings and to visit major observatories including Mauna Kea and Haleakala in Hawaii. In the early 2000's he purchased a dark sky viewing site "Starport" on top of a small mountain in NH where he shared his love of the night sky with numerous friends and his family. While Barrie never had children of his own, he doted on his nieces, Christie Sawyer and Anne Croteau, sharing with them a love of the outdoors and hiking the White Mountains. He was particularly proud of having hiked all of the 4000 foot peaks in NH in both summer and winter, and was a proud member of the Appalachian Mountain Club Trail Crew. He is survived by his brother Rob Sawyer of Portsmouth, NH, his nieces Christie Sawyer (Bob Brown) of Londonderry, NH and Anne Croteau (Rob Croteau) of Ballston Lake, NY, and their children Quinn and Declan Brown, and Olivia and Nathaniel Croteau. Barrie will be cremated, with his ashes becoming one with the White Mountains he so loved, and his spirit becoming one with the cosmos. A Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, June 29th 2023, at 10am at the Starr King Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 101 Fairgrounds Road, Plymouth, NH. https://www.starrkingfellowship.org/ Loved ones are invited back to Starport for a reception in Barrie's honor at 250 Bailey Hill Rd., Rumney NH. (Please be aware that the dirt road up to Starport is steep and rugged)

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Barrie James Sawyer

May 29, 1948 - May 26, 2023