Thomas S. Baron, 80, of South Yarmouth, MA., formerly of Worcester, and West Warren, MA, passed away peacefully at Cape Cod Hospital on January 18, 2022. He is
survived by his wife Dorothy (Serafin) Baron, his children and their spouses, Andrew (Drew) and Diane Baron of Redmond, WA, Christine Baron and Inanc Cavdar of Beverly, MA, and Stephanie Baron of Glenwood Springs, CO, his grandchildren Madeline Elizabeth and Luke Harrison Baron, and many nieces and nephews.
Thomas was predeceased by his parents Joseph and Helen (Wisnowski) Baron of West Warren, MA, and his three brothers Joseph J. Baron Jr. of Morris Plains, N.J., John C. (Jack) Baron of San Antonio, TX, and Francis (Frank) Baron of King, WI.
Thomas graduated from St. Mary’s High School, Worcester, MA in 1959. There, he met
Dorothy, his wife of 52 years, marrying in 1969. He went on to graduate and become a proud
alumnus of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, stalking their libraries and lectures for the remainder
of his life. At WPI, he served in ROTC, and upon graduation, joined the U.S. Army, achieving
the rank of Captain, and serving in the Corps of Engineers from 1964-68 in Thailand during the
Vietnam Era. After discharge, he returned to Massachusetts and began a 26-year career with the
Metropolitan District Commission (MDC)/Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (MWRA),
advancing to Operations Director, providing public water service up to 300 million gallons per
day to the millions of people in the Greater Boston Area. Upon conclusion of his service at the
MWRA, Thomas worked at Yankee Spirits in Sturbridge and North Attleboro. After his
retirement and move to the Cape, he was an active volunteer on the Town of Yarmouth Planning
and Zoning Board of Appeals.
Thomas identified first as an Engineer and, after his family, the Quabbin Reservoir was his great
love. His life’s work was his proposed expansion of the Quabbin Reservoir as a regional solution
to New England’s perennial water shortages. In addition to his work at the MWRA, he wrote
three books on the subject: "Southern New England's Future Thirst, A Central Lakes Solution",
"Southern New England's Future Thirst, Strategic Plan-Paradigm Shift", "Southern New
England's Future Thirst: The Second Drop”, and lectured in universities and civic organizations
about the need to plan ahead and update the “100 Year Solution” for potable water across New
England that the Quabbin offered Metro-Boston at the turn of the last century.
In 2008, in an article entitled “All Tomorrow’s Water” the Boston Globe profiled his work on
the Quabbin that beautifully captures not only the scope of the problem that he sought to address,
but his joy in contemplating a problem that few others understood and evangelizing for his
proposed solution. Even in his final days, he tried to convince hospital staff and caregivers,
taking any conversational opportunity he could, to get them to think about the future of the water
supply across New England.
A funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday January 24, 2022, at Saint Pius X Church on
Station Ave, S. Yarmouth, MA 02664. Burial will follow in the spring at the Quabbin Reservoir
Park Cemetery. If circumstances do not allow you to celebrate his life with us, please raise a
toast wherever you are and pledge not to leave the water running on the faucet.
In lieu of floral offerings, please plant a tree.
EMBED LINK:
Link to “All Tomorrow’s Water”: https://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/06/15/all_tomorrows_water/
Funeral Services are under the direction of the Koziol Family of Cebula Funeral Home in Ware. For More information and online guest book, please visit: www.cebulafuneralhome.com .
To send flowers
to the family or plant a tree
in memory of Thomas Stanley Baron, please visit our floral store.