Tom and Mary

Thomas Joseph Baginski and Mary Margaret Earhardt were happily married on April 26, 1958, at the young ages of 22 and 21. Through almost 50 years of marriage they lovingly raised their 4 children and watched their family grow into 12 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. The life they built together was centered around family and friends and their Catholic faith. Here is a little bit about their lives.

Tom was born on November 10, 1935. He was the son of Peter Baginski, a mechanic with Standard Oil/Esso Corporation, and his wife, Catherine, a seamstress. Tom was reared on East Baltimore Street and Cottman Avenue. He was a 1953 graduate of Calvert Hall College High School, where he played varsity football. After graduating, Tom was employed with Bethlehem Steel, Coco Cola, and served in the Army. In 1958 he joined the Baltimore City Fire Department. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1964 and Captain in 1971. In 1973 Tom was appointed to Battalion Chief and was responsible for overseeing the instructors at the department’s Training Academy on Pulaski Highway. Tom became a member of the Maryland Fire Rescue Education and Training Commission, the Council of Fire Rescue Academies and the Instructor Certification Review Board. From 1996-1999 Tom was responsible for the southern section of the city, including Brooklyn and Curtis Bay. When he retired as Battalion Chief 6 in 1999 his career with the Baltimore City Fire department had spanned 41 years.

Tom was a dedicated, no-nonsense father who was always ready to encourage his children to challenge themselves to do their best. He completed his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Baltimore while employed full-time, helping to raise his 4 children, and climbing the ranks of the fire department. During his free time, Tom liked playing cards, bowling in a league, watching the Colts at home in his easy chair and the Orioles at Memorial Stadium, and visiting the racetrack to bet on the horses. He also could be found in the kitchen steaming a bushel of crabs, making Sunday-morning pancakes and sausage before church, or preparing a shrimp scampi dinner. Summertime extended his cooking skills to the grill and added pool duties, as well as giving Cookie, the beloved family dog, those backyard baths that neither enjoyed. When David began playing baseball, Tom took on a new role as a Coach. He had fun coaching David’s Little League teams with Guy Miller, who was also a good friend and fellow parent. Tom also enjoyed watching his grandkids’ sporting events whenever possible. Tom’s lifelong friends were very important to him too. He attended Calvert Hall reunion weekends every year and met his Fire Department friends for monthly dinners. During his retirement years he discovered and fell in love with playing the game of golf. He enjoyed traveling to Hilton Head and Ocean City for golfing trips with the guys and at home he was a regular at Rocky Point Golf Club and Mount Pleasant Golf Course.

Mary was born on September 22, 1936. She was the daughter of Francis Earhardt, a dedicated Baltimore City police sergeant, and his wife Marie, a homemaker. She was reared on Rutland and St. Thomas Avenues. Mary was a 1954 graduate of Catholic High School where she was a Business Editor for the school newspaper and was on the bowling team. After graduating she worked as a Secretary for the old State Roads Commission until she had her first child in 1959. Mary was a very loving, devoted and stylish Mother. She loved all things Baltimore – bingo, bowling, and crab cakes. She raised her children with compassion and dedication and happily and unselfishly took care of her grandchildren whenever requested. Mary also took loving care of her parents, mother-in-law, and her aunts until their passing. Whether she was cooking and delivering meals to her parents, playing Yahtzee with her dad, or making weekly visits to brighten her aunts’ and mother-in-law’s days, Mary made it a priority to spend time with them. Mary spent many hours in the kitchen preparing meals for loved ones. She cooked a wholesome family dinner most nights which usually included her deliciously creamy mashed potatoes, and her homemade crab cakes were the best. She lovingly cared for Cookie, the family dog, and would even occasionally cook him his favorite meal of chicken liver. She was also like a 2nd mom to the neighborhood kids and was always willing to welcome them into her home if her help was needed. However, Mary did have routines she did not like to break: Thursdays were “cleaning day” and on Fridays she did not miss her weekly hair appointment to keep her beehive hairdo in a perfectly teased coif. She always looked fashionable and she would look glamorous for special occasions. She also made time to volunteer at St. Pius X elementary school while her children attended school there and was active in The Ladies Auxiliary for the fire department.

In her free time, Mary loved to be with her friends. She shopped, bowled and played bingo with them. Bingo was her passion. She knew where every Catholic bingo was and easily handled 60 cards at a time while chatting with her bingo friends. She bowled on a duckpin league until the age of 74, bowling with the same ball she had as a member of the Catholic High bowling team. Mary also loved playing cards and watching her game shows on tv.

Tom and Mary became proud parents when they welcomed their first child, Judy, in 1959. Karen arrived in 1960, Linda in 1962 and David in 1977. As their family grew quickly (2 daughters within 11 months!) and Tom became employed with the City Fire Department, Tom and Mary purchased their first home at 1210 Gittings Avenue. They spent 34 years of good times with family, friends and neighbors, and raised their 4 children there. They hosted family dinners, card games and crab feasts, and kids’ birthday parties and sleepovers. Tom completed major home improvement projects on their first home and Mary enjoyed decorating and cleaning it. They became close friends with many neighbors and were always willing to lend a helping hand or a cup of sugar. They also enjoyed bowling on a duckpin league together, attending dinner dances with other fire department couples, and watching and betting on the horses at Pimlico. They took a weeklong family vacation to Ocean City, MD every year too. Mary and Tom also became active communicants of St. Pius X Church in Rodgers Forge.

In 1993, although difficult to move away from their 1st home, Tom and Mary designed and moved into their new home on Perring Woods Road in Parkville with David. Mary’s father, Frank, also began residing with them. Mary & Tom provided a loving home and companionship for Frank until his passing at age 87 in 1998. Tom and Mary enjoyed the new, updated features and the spaciousness of their new home and quickly became friends with their new neighbors. They joined and became Communicants at their new parish of St. Isaac Jogues Roman Catholic Church in Parkville.

In their retirement years, they enjoyed traveling to Atlantic City and Foxwood, CT together to play at the casinos, and playing cards with friends and family in their homes. They also vacationed at the beach with family and dined out at their favorite restaurants around Baltimore. Some of their favorites were the Italian Bistro, Koco’s, The Cinnamon Tree, the Middleborough Inn, and Angelina’s. They were able to enjoy their relaxed retirement lifestyle and spend time with their children, grandchildren and friends until, devastatingly, Tom was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer in early March of 2008.

On March 30, 2008, less than one-month shy of 50 years of marriage to Mary, Tom died of cancer at Good Samaritan Hospital at the age of 72. His Funeral Mass was celebrated in St. Isaac Jogues Roman Catholic Church on Thursday, April 3, 2008.

Mary survived 11 years without Tom although she was troubled with increasing health problems. She eventually sold her Perring Woods home in late 2009 to help purchase and live in a new home in Timonium with Judy and her family. In 2013 she moved to Brightview Senior Living in Towson. At Brightview she was pleasantly surprised to find her former Gittings Avenue next-door neighbors, Loretta and Ronnie, also residing there. The threesome usually dined together for lunch and dinner and met up at the various daily events offered by Brightview. Mary’s children and extended family visited her often and took her to church, family get-togethers, and her weekly hair appointments until she was no longer physically able to do so. As Mary’s health and mobility further declined, she was moved to Stella Maris in Timonium in 2016. Her family continued to visit often, take her on walks and to scheduled activities there, and take her to mass at the chapel. On February 27, 2019 Mary died peacefully and surrounded by family at Stella Maris Hospice. Her Funeral Mass was celebrated in the Chapel of Stella Maris on Monday, March 4, 2019.

Thomas and Mary were the loving parents of Judith Gentry and her husband Thomas, Karen Barba and her husband Michael, Linda Durkota and her husband William and David Baginski and his wife Christie; cherished grandparents of Bobby, Timmy and Ryan Gentry, Joseph Barba and his wife Sarah, Michael Barba and his wife Ashley, Jessica Templeton and her husband Matthew and Patrick Barba, Erica, Chris, Marie and Lindsey Durkota and Ethan Baginski; adoring great-grandparents of Savannah, Charlotte, Emmaline, Jake, Lauren and Leah. Tom was preceded in death by his sister, Theresa Caro, and is survived by his brother, Raymond Baginski. Mary is survived by her brother, Francis Earhardt and his wife Blanche.

When sadness overtakes us about our loss of Tom and Mary, the poem “What is Dying” by Luther F. Beecher can be comforting:

“What is Dying”

I am standing upon the seashore.

A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze,

And starts for the blue ocean.

She is an object of beauty and strength,

and I stand and watch her until she hangs like a speck of white cloud

just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says: “There! She’s gone!”

Gone where? Gone from my sight—that is all.

She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side,

and just as able to bear her load of living freight

to the place of her destination.

Her diminished size is in me, and not in her.

And just at that moment

when someone at my side says: “There! She’s gone!”

there are other eyes that are watching for her coming;

and other voices ready to take up the glad shout:

And just at that moment

when someone at my side says: “There! She’s gone!”

there are other eyes that are watching for her coming;

and other voices ready to take up the glad shout:

“There she comes!”

And that is—“dying”.

-Reverend Luther F. Beecher

Tom and Mary, buried next to each other at Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery on Belair Road, are now reunited and watching over us.