MARGARET JOAN BARON GRIFFITHS February 20, 1931 – January 24, 2015 Joan was born to William Walter Baron and Margaret Ann Barlow Baron in Bare, near Morecombe, Lancashire, and died peacefully in Saint Joseph’s Hospital after a short period of declining health. She graduated from the University of Bristol with a degree in Education, specializing in Cookery and Nutrition, teaching in several schools in Lancashire and Oxfordshire in England before accepting a faculty appointment at the University of East Africa in Nairobi, Kenya in 1960. She met her future husband John Frederick Griffiths in Kenya, and they married in England in 1962. Later that year they moved to College Station, Texas, where John joined the A&M College of Texas (now Texas A&M University) faculty as Professor of Meteorology. John’s specialization was Applied Meteorology and Climatology, and he was internationally recognized as an expert on the relation between climate and agriculture. Joan joined him on dozens of research assignments that took them across the globe, and she served as an editorial assistant for many of his influential publications. The travels gave John an ever-growing number of international students and professional colleagues, and Joan’s boundless charm and generous hospitality blended them into their extended family. Drama, ballet, music and art were a part of Joan’s life from an early age, and remained an integral part of her life. She was a founder member of the Fine Arts Group of the Texas A&M Woman’s Club (now ACE), a charter member of the OPAS Guild, held offices on the OPAS Board of Directors, and served as a docent for the Forsythe and Wayne Stark Galleries. She generously supported the Friends of Chamber Music, OPAS, and the Brazos Valley Symphony for many years. Joan was part of a devoted family in England, and is survived by a sister, Hazel M. Yates and her husband Robert, and a brother, W. Gary Baron and his wife Sarah, as well as many nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews. Having lived in College Station for over fifty years Joan’s capacity for being an extraordinary friend inevitably created a network of friends of all ages across the university and in the community. They all had a special place in her life, and she felt blessed by them, as she was a blessing to them. Her unconditional love for her extended family was both an inspiration and an unforgettable gift. A service of celebration of her life will be held in the 1938 Chapel at Saint Thomas Episcopal Church, 906 George Bush, College Station, where she was a faithful member, on Friday 20 February at 2:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations are kindly suggested to the Brazos Health for All Clinic, the local branch of Habitat for Humanity, or a charity of your choice.
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