Defector's Family Finally To Arrive - For His Funeral

For months, it had been Anatoly Speransky's quest to bring his wife and young daughter to America.

Dealing diligently with government bureaucracy, the 26-year-old geologist and Soviet defector hoped and planned for the day his wife, Anastasia, would receive permission to become part of his new life in the United States.

Now, it appears that Anastasia, 25, will arrive in Seattle within a few days.

Not to join her husband's new life, though. But to attend his funeral.

"This is a great loss," said Speransky's friend and boss, James Quarles, president of Kirkland-based Enviros, Inc. "He was hard-working, very intelligent and had a very positive outlook."

"His main interest was in getting his family with him," Quarles said. "He missed them very much. I think the money he made, he sent back to them."

Wednesday evening, Speransky was driving alone in central Oregon, traveling between job sites. Enviros does environmental and engineering consulting, helping companies assess the risks of potential chemical spills.

Speransky, recently promoted to a position as a team leader, had finished work at a Klamath Falls project and was about 45 miles south of Bend, his next destination.

About 6:45 p.m., according to the Oregon State Patrol, the company-leased car Speransky was driving drifted across the center line of Highway 97. When Serpansky sharply corrected to the right, the car went off the right shoulder, rolled over once and hit two large trees.

Unconscious from a severe head injury, Speransky was airlifted to a hospital in Bend, where he died Thursday night.

"It's such a tragedy," said immigration lawyer Dan Danilov, who had helped Speransky apply for political asylum in the United States. "He had so much going for him."

Speransky's asylum application was not just for himself, but for his wife and their 4-year-old daughter, Elizabeth.

The saddest irony, Danilov said, is that Speransky's death has accomplished what his efforts in life could not - breaking through government red tape to allow his wife to come to the United States.

Because of the tragedy, Anastasia has received permission for a temporary visit and is expected to arrive at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Monday night. Later next week, Speransky's father, Valentine Liphshitz, and mother, Valentina Speransky, are expected, also on temporary permits.

Speransky was among six people who defected last August from the Soviet research ship Academic Shirshov. The ship was in Seattle on a goodwill mission when a short-lived coup in the U.S.S.R. seized power from President Mikhail Gorbachev.

The defectors said they feared returning to a country where the threat of repression remained.

Speransky, a Roman Catholic, said he feared religious persecution if he returned. Friends put him in touch with St. Louise Catholic Church in Bellevue, where he was allowed to live at the rectory.

Quarles remembers the joy with which Speransky approached life, his warm sense of humor and his ability to make friends. Last month, co-workers threw a party to celebrate Speransky's 26th birthday.

Speransky spoke English well and read it even better, Quarles said. The former Moscow resident had a master's degree in geology and an ability to learn quickly the kinds of work needed here, his boss said.

"It became obvious quickly that he was a really sharp fellow, very qualified and capable," Quarles said.

The Rev. Rob Evenson, an assistant pastor at St. Louise, said Speransky was a "very gifted, brilliant young man," coping with the frustration of unsuccessful efforts to get permission for his wife to visit.

"His name means hopeful person, and he certainly was," Evenson said.

St. Louise Church has purchased the airline tickets for the three members of Speransky's family. The church is paying all other expenses involved in the funeral and will accept donations to cover the costs, which could exceed $20,000, Evenson said.

Evenson said the family is making arrangements to bury Speransky in the Seattle area, in the soil of the country he hoped would give his life a new beginning.