|
Obituary for Donald James Baron
Posted December 4, 2014 in the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal:
Donald Jerome Baron of Leesburg, Florida passed after a long illness on December 3, 2014 at Melech Hospice House, Temple Terrace, Florida. He was 84 years old. Born in Erie, PA, January 16, 1930 and was the son of Jerome W. and Helen G. Baron. He served as a 1st Lieutenant in the United States Army during the Korean War. He remained actively involved in Veterans' affairs, frequently singing the national anthem for various memorial services. As a graduate of Gannon University and the University of Illinois, he taught for 33 years in Wilson, NY as a high school English teacher. Upon retiring from teaching, he moved to NC, where he worked as the evening coordinator at Alamance Community College for 5 years. He and his recently deceased wife of 21 years, Mary "Betty" Baron, lived in Pennbrooke Fairways for the last 14 years. He is survived by 6 grandchildren and 3 children, James D. of Tampa FL, Diane L. of Asheville, NC and Steven J. of Blacklick, OH. In his own words, he believed in: "Country, Love, Music and Truth."
Funeral mass will be held at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Leesburg, FL on December 10th at 8:30a.m., followed by visitation at Beyers Funeral Home from 10:00 am-1:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation, Inc., 10301 McKinstry Mill Rd., New Windsor, MD 21776-7903. Online condolences may be left at www.beyersfuneralhome.com. Arrangements entrusted to Beyers Funeral Home, Leesburg, FL.
|
Paul Darnell
To see Mr. Baron's more recent photo, click on the link at the bottom of this page.
Paul Darnell
Mary "Betty" (Slack) Stafford Baron Obituary
I found the obituary for Mr. Baron's second wife who just died (October 31, 2014) less than two months before he. His son, James, told me that because of her worsening Alzheimer's Mr. Baron could not take care of her in their Leesburg home so her family had moved her back to New Jersey where she could be in a dedicated dementia unit near her daughter. Here is the link to her obituary.
http://www.christyfuneralservice.com/obituaries/Mary-Baron-2/#!/Obituary
Marianne Monteleone (Harzewski)
What I recall about Mr. Baron's was his amazing eyes...the way the looked at us if he was displeased with our behavior. And I shall keep the poem IF in my heart to remind me of the message he was trying to give to us!
Marianne
Paul Darnell
Marianne,
Your comment prompted me to look this up and post it.
======
If—
by Rudyard Kipling (and oft quoted by Don Baron)
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!