Richard J. Baron

AUGUSTA -- Richard J. Baron, age 92, of Parkwood Drive, passed away on May 25, 2011, at his home. He was born in Augusta on Sept. 18, 1918, one of nine children of John Baron and Alice (Cyr) Baron.

Mr. Baron was educated in Augusta schools and served honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.

He was owner and operator of the Charles E. Downing Insurance Agency in Augusta for 25 years.

Mr. Baron was a communicant of Sacred Heart Catholic Church of Hallowell and a former communicant of St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church of Augusta; a 55-year member and past president (1959) of the Augusta Kiwanis Club, past president (1980) of the Kiwanis Past Presidents Club, a former member of the Augusta Rotary Club, longtime member of the Augusta Country Club, former member of the Depositors Trust Co. board of directors and he was a former member of the Augusta City Council. He had been a volunteer at the Bread of Life Kitchen and he received the Augusta Downtown Merchants Life Membership in 1973. He also was state director (1973-1976) and past president of Independent Insurance Agents of Maine and a member of the Honorable Order of Blue Goose International. Mr. Baron thoroughly enjoyed golfing, gardening and cooking, and he was a major sports fan.

He was predeceased by his parents; his first wife, Barbara (Downing) Baron, in 1974; his second wife, Anastasia (Pierson) Baron, on Jan. 26, 2010; two sons, Richard Charles Baron and Robert Downing Baron; a daughter, Kathleen Baron Lewis; three brothers, Albert, Raymond and William; and four sisters, Lena, Thelma, Cecilia and Jeanette.

Surviving are five daughters, Barbara Ann Pouliot, and her husband, Jean, of Oakland, Bonny Susan Baron-Carvin and her husband, Kenneth, of Chelmsford, Mass., Julie Grant of Tucson, Ariz., Theresa Marie Daniels of Windsor and Elizabeth MacKenzie and her companion, Rocky Morrison, of Augusta; a stepson, Roderick E. Landwehr, and his wife, Marcia, of Gunnison, Colo.; two stepdaughters, Gretchen Robbins, and her husband, Joseph, of Machias and Winthrop, and Patricia Caret and her husband, Gary, of Salt Lake City, Utah; one sister, Barbara Mason, of Midlothian, Va.; and many grandchildren; great-grandchildren; step-grandchildren; one step-great-grandchild; and several nieces and nephews.

He will be lovingly missed by his caregiver, Mary Vogel. Special thanks goes to HealthReach Home Care & Hospice nurses and CNA's Debbie Heald, Dodie Kalose, Angela Reed and Tina Lamoreau.

Friends may visit from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday June 2, at Plummer Funeral Home, 16 Pleasant St., Augusta. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 11 a.m. Friday, June 3, at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church, Augusta. Committal will follow at St. Mary's Cemetery, Manchester.

Memorial donations are requested to Augusta Kiwanis Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 966, Augusta, ME 04332-0966. Envelopes will be available at the funeral home. Condolences may be expressed at www.plummerfh.com.