Arlene R. Baril died Monday, July 16, 2018, at the Windemere Nursing Center.
Arlene was born on June 20, 1935, at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital in Oak Bluffs. She grew up in Edgartown, and was a member of the Edgartown Methodist Church and joined all activities there. She attended the Edgartown School from grade 1 through 12, and graduated with honors, being the valedictorian of her class in 1953. From high school, she was accepted to Framingham State Teachers College, graduating from there in June 1957, ranking high in her class.
After graduation, she headed to California to teach for one year, returning East to accept a teaching position in White Plains, N.Y. She taught in White Plains for two years, and then came back to New England, where she was employed by Allyn and Bacon in Boston as editor of elementary school textbooks.
Arlene, more than anything, loved Martha’s Vineyard, and at any chance she would make it home to visit her parents, Cyrus S. and Nettie D. Norton of Edgartown. She would take a swim in the ocean and ride her bike all over the Island. One summer’s day in August 1958, while walking on South Beach with her sister, Norma, a very nice-looking man stopped to ask them about Martha’s Vineyard. He had just flown his plane into the Edgartown airport. That conversation went on for 56 years, and many plane rides. Arlene married Donald J. Baril in September 1962 in Needham. They made their home in Franklin until after the death of their son, Gary, in November 1987. Arlene and Don moved from Franklin back to Arlene’s beloved Martha’s Vineyard. She and Don could be seen walking the streets of Edgartown or riding their bikes.
Arlene’s husband, Donald J. Baril, predeceased her in February of this year. She leaves one sister, Norma E. Rodgers, and a brother-in-law, A. Edson Rodgers, of Edgartown. She also leaves three nieces and three nephews: Cheryl Cooper of Warren, R.I., Wendy Hales of Willow Spring, N.C., Stacey O’Donnell of Fort Washington, Md., Mark Edson Rodgers of Chesapeake, Va., and Paul and Allen Baril of Waltham, their spouses and children.
A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 22, at Oak Bluffs Trinity Methodist Church, Oak Bluffs Campground, at 11 am.
