Lucy Watson-Baker

Lucy Watson-Baker, unknown by her first name of Philippa, died Saturday unexpectedly in her home at 54. She was born to the late Henry Robin Watson-Baker and Sylvia Winifred Armes on October 8th 1964 in Whitehaven, Cumbria UK, known for its beauty as The Lake District of North West England. A descendent of the W. Watson and Sons optical instruments makers of London.

A self-made lady, she was educated in both local schools and the Casterton school in rural Cumbria, fka the Cowan Bridge School, attended by all the Bronte sisters. She later attended the University of West London. Despite her love for the city, she chose to exit early as many successful global entrepreneurs do. And after thoroughly enjoying a year in Australia with IBM, she ventured back to London, where she worked for Reed.Co.UK and Microgen Financial Systems before joining Dow Jones Telerate as a major account executive, making many important lasting friendships along the way.

She then followed a companion to New England, where not long after arriving in 1997 she found herself launching a Life Sciences practice for Management Search Inc. in Providence RI. She remained there for 20 years, exiting as a partner to launch her own talent consortium in the Biotech industry, Kingfisher Talent Inc., serving gene therapy and rare disease clientele. She worked tirelessly and excitedly amid her network of thousands to match up chief medical officers and their colleagues with winning organizations in these recent years. She was blessed to have partnered with the Virdis Group in Global Executive Search, of Oxford UK and Sion Switzerland.

She resided in Warwick RI for over a decade before moving to the Cape Cod village of Barnstable in 2009. In 2015 she added a city penthouse in Boston, from which she strolled chicly across the Longfellow Bridge in Hermes and her fabulous heels to serve her Cambridge Biotech clients. Sometimes she’d pick them up in her Aston Martin for tea at the Four Seasons.

She had the surprise of her life in her 40s when learning that her mother had not merely done administrative work for the Foreign Office during the war—she instead was handpicked midterm out of Oxford University by the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6) to serve in Bletchley Park’s most famous and victorious Hut 6, working the enigma machine under Alan Turing and his team. This top-secret operation imposed a 50-year code of silence on its codebreakers, whom Sir Winston Churchill called his “geese that laid the golden eggs and never cackled”, bestowing his unconditional support and deepest gratitude for bringing the end to World War II.

Passionate about making a difference in the lives of many, she served as a member of the Leadership Council of The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, headquartered in Boston. She also proudly served as a Mentor for the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association, as well as part of the Mentor program for the Association of Latino Professionals for America. Other associations over the years have included the Board of Directors of the Sturgis Library in Barnstable, President of the Board of Directors for the Looking Glass Theatre in Providence RI, reader for Insight Radio for the Blind; active member of MassBIO, Women in Bio, WEST, and New England Women in Science Executives Club (NEWISE). Lucy’s side passions were tennis and the cello. She leaves behind her favorite guides Kathryn Olson and Chris Kerins.

Lucy is survived and always treasured by her fiancée Deborah Jackson of Boston, sister Jane Watson-Baker and brother-in-law Gordon MacLeod of Athenree, New Zealand; her Godmother Mary Lucas of New Malden, England, her Goddaughter Phoebe Gardam of Hook, England; her adopted father William Jackson of Hudson MA; several loving cousins in England and New Zealand, and a worldwide web of most dear friends, for whom she gives genuine thanks. She will be forever remembered for her tremendous empathy, being your most devoted listener, and having a seemingly transcendent light inside—emanating from her sparkling eyes and complimented by her warm smile.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that contributions be made to the Lucy Watson-Baker Memorial Fund www.LucyNtheSky.org. A mass will be celebrated at 3 p.m. Friday, May 3, 2019 at the Unitarian Church of Barnstable MA. Later this year another service will be planned well in advance months ahead of time in London for friends and family worldwide.