J.P. BARGER

1927 - 2023

BARGER, J.P. Entrepreneur, Civic Leader, Philanthropist J. P. Barger, a resident of Winchester since 1961, passed away on April 23. He was 96. He was born J. Perry Barger (he really disliked that middle name) on January 3, 1927, to Ralph and Ruble Barger, and grew up in Mahopac Falls, NY. He was a graduate of the Cornell School of Engineering and the MIT School of Engineering. As World War II came to a close, J.P. took a break from Cornell to join the U.S. Army, serving in Germany during the occupation. As 1st Lieutenant in the Constabulary Corps, he adjudicated disputes and criminal cases. Tired of guessing at the gulf between the translator's story and the defendant's, he persuaded a barmaid to teach him German, which he studied for the rest of his life. He was passionately interested in languages – he later taught himself Japanese – and had a seemingly inexhaustible knowledge of the derivation of words and names. Returning to Cornell, he met Mary Baxter, who would become his wife in 1950. They were each other's unwavering supporters, a team united in every way for nearly 70 years until her death in 2019. They raised two children, Jeffrey and Melissa. While in graduate school at MIT in the 1950s, he and the Dean of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Warren M. Rohsenow, co-founded Dynatech Corporation. An early innovator in the telecommunications industry, Dynatech diversified into a broad range of medical and diagnostic instrumentation and other high technology products. As Dynatech CEO and a founding member of the Massachusetts High Technology Council, J.P. helped shape the innovative industry that created the Route 128 juggernaut of the late 20th century. J.P. retired from Dynatech on a Friday and walked into his new office on Monday. He founded several small companies during his so-called retirement. J.P. served on the boards of many non-profit organizations, among them the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Museum of Science, Boston Lyric Opera, Northfield Mount Hermon School, and Old Sturbridge Village, all of which he led as chair. He believed deeply in the importance of contributing to one's community, in the value of the arts, and in the critical importance of education, and devoted great energy to their support. He was interested in everything. One of J.P.'s greatest joys was travel, and it is easier to list the places he hadn't explored than those had had. He was endlessly fascinated by people, by history, by science, by every new subject he came across. This inevitably resulted in study and research followed by unexpected disquisitions on subjects from the migration of ancient peoples from the Middle East across Europe to the engineering of skyscrapers to the inner workings of the human eye. And, of course, there were the trains. A lifelong train fanatic, J.P. amassed a major collection of model trains, photographed trains around the world, and traveled by train whenever and wherever he could. He was an extremely talented, meticulous builder and restorer of models. According to his mother, after his first train trip as a toddler "he was never right in his head about trains again." J.P. was predeceased by his beloved wife, Mary. He is survived by his dearly loved son, Jeffrey and wife, Cynthia (Roach), of Woodstock, VT; and his cherished daughter, Melissa and husband, Owen Baern, of Littleton, MA. He was the proud grandfather of James Barger and wife Kelly (Gallagher), parents of Riley and Quinn, Michael Barger, and Scott Barger, all of Woodstock, VT, Margaret Barger, of Salem, MA, and Maxfield Baern and Theodore Baern of Littleton, MA. He also leaves his dear friend, Ann Chase Allen of Cambridge, MA. A celebration of J.P.'s life is planned for a later date. For details, please email bargermemorial@gmail.com. His family requests that no flowers be sent, please. The family respectfully suggests that a donation to the charity of your choice would be the consummate memorial to a man for whom philanthropy was an essential virtue.

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