Thomas Mountain

Thomas R. Mountain

Worcester - Thomas R. Mountain, Senior Partner of the Worcester law firm of Mountain, Dearborn & Whiting, LLP died on Thursday, December 5, 2013.

He was born in East Orange, New Jersey, son of Judge Worrall F. Mountain and Ethel Spohr Mountain. He is survived by a daughter, Heidi Mountain, of Boulder, Colorado, a son, Thomas R. Mountain, Jr. (Toby), of Southborough, a daughter, Lisa M. Wade of Rye, New Hampshire a stepson, Duncan H. Dewar III of Kennebunk, Maine, his partner, Julia A. Huot of Worcester, Massachusetts and several grandchildren.

Mr. Mountain's first wife, Mary Randolph Mountain died in 1963 and his second wife, Patricia Mountain died in 1999. An older brother, Worrall F. Mountain, Jr., who had been a justice on the Supreme Court of New Jersey, predeceased him.

He was educated at The Lawrenceville School, Princeton University and Harvard Law School.

During World War II he first served as a counter intelligence corps agent. Upon being commissioned a Second Lieutenant, he was assigned to a top secret military installation at Oakridge, Tennessee. Upon arrival, he was handed a heavy satchel and told to carry it by train to a place called Los Alamos, New Mexico. He was accompanied by another intelligence corps agent, both were armed, and the two were instructed that one or the other must at all times be in the compartment with the satchel. He had no idea what he was carrying but learned later that it was U-235 incased in nickel, the element used in the bomb which was later dropped on Hiroshima. Upon his return he received orders to report to the office of Major General Leslie R. Groves, the director of the Manhattan Project in Washington, D.C. where for the war's duration he was a member of its intelligence section and a part time aide to General Groves.

Upon his discharge he returned to New Jersey joining the law firm of Pitney, Harden, Ward & Brennan in Newark. William J. Brennan of that firm would later be appointed to the United States Supreme Court by President Eisenhower. In 1948 he joined the Worcester law firm of Sibley, Blair and Young, now known as Mountain, Dearborn & Whiting LLP. His principal interest was in estate planning and trust law. He was a member of the American, Massachusetts and Worcester Bar Associations and a Fellow in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. He was a director of the Worcester County National Bank, retiring when it became Shawmut National Bank, and was also a director of the Worcester Mutual Fire Insurance Company. He was at one time a trustee of the Peoples Savings Bank, Memorial Hospital and the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology.

He was a member of the Tatnuck Country Club, the Worcester Club, the Yellow Label Club and the Worcester Fire Society.

He loved sports. At Lawrenceville he was on the football and track teams, captain of the swimming team, twice New Jersey prep school diving champion and a member of the school's Alumni Athletic Hall of Fame. At Princeton he was captain of the football team and at Harvard Law School he played rugby on a Harvard Rugby Club's undefeated team. Later in life he won a gold medal at Vail, Colorado skiing on a downhill slalom course for those 70 years and older. He played golf and tennis into his nineties and was a member of the United States Seniors Golf Association.

A Memorial Service will be held at The First Unitarian Church, 90 Main Street, Worcester, MA on December 9th at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to Princeton University, Fred Fox '39 Fund, P.O. Box 5357, Princeton, NJ 08543 or Spohr Gardens Charitable Trust, 45 Fells Road, Falmouth, MA 02540.

Private burial services will be held later at the Princeton Cemetery, Princeton, New Jersey.