Barie graduated Magna Cum Laude from the California College Mortuary Science in 1965 and is a licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer in Texas and New Mexico. Over his 55 years as a funeral director, he has owned and operated five funeral homes in New Mexico, Colorado, and Oklahoma. He moved to Midland in 2015 and is a member of First Baptist Church. He and his wife, Jane, have a blended family of five children and six grandchildren.