A devoted citizen and founding member of the city of Mercer Island, Thomas J. Barto, died on Dec. 17, 2008 in his Island home surrounded by family and caregivers. During his lifetime on Mercer Island, Mr. Barto served on the city’s first council in the 1950s and became the Island’s second mayor in 1962. He was also an active School Board member for many years, presiding as president in the 1970s. A philanthropist by heart, Mr. Barto volunteered with the Mercer Island Fire Department, worked to preserve the Mercer Island Beach Club during its early, unstable years and was a conscientious voice in downtown development.

Although establishing roots became a theme of Mr. Barto’s life, his grandparents immigrated to Washington from such places as England, Guernsey in the Channel Islands, and the East Coast of the United States.

By contrast, Mr. Barto lived all his life within view of or on Mercer Island, except for WWII service in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He grew up in Seattle’s Leschi area, in a home built by his parents, and attended Garfield High School, appreciating its ethnic diversity and especially grateful for the lifelong friendships formed there.

Before and after the war, Mr. Barto attended the University of Washington, later joining Barto Loans, a Seattle company established by his grandfather in 1886 and eventually managed by four generations of family members.

After Mr. Barto’s marriage in 1947 to former classmate Virginia (Ginny) Waugh, the couple, seeking a rural atmosphere, chose Mercer Island acreage off East Mercer Way.

Their property included a stable that Mr. Barto spent six years of spare time converting to a home for his growing family. As he wished, it was there — 60 years later — that he spent his final days, tended by his family and faithful band of caregivers.

During the post-war years, many Island neighbors were, like Mr. Barto, either remodeling previous vacation cottages themselves or building anew. Such activity created bonds of encouragement or, sometimes, much needed assistance.

A similar comradeship developed during Mr. Barto’s early service with the Island’s Volunteer Fire Department. A radio in each volunteer’s home alerted them to emergencies; boots, helmet and protective gear were always at hand; firefighting practice and tending equipment claimed Thursday nights. Again, the gift of such an undertaking was the lifelong friendship of many Islanders who also became fishing buddies.

Mr. Barto’s other early community involvement included helping to organize and preserve a south-Island lakefront property owned by a fraternal group where children received swimming lessons in cooperation with the Island’s pre-incorporation Recreation Council. By summer’s end of 1953, 400 Island families had each paid $100 to preserve this property as the Mercer Island Beach Club.

In the late 1950s, Mr. Barto joined with others hoping to guide Island development differently than under King County management. The resulting election for city incorporation included Mr. Barto’s becoming a member of the first City Council, on which he served for eight years, and as the city’s second mayor from 1962-1964. Later, asked by a city group to run for a School Board position, he was again elected and served as its president in 1970. Both experiences were memorable, as was his family’s sharing — for almost half a century — of a Hood Canal retreat with another Island family and the countless gatherings of a treasured extended family. Mr. Barto enjoyed a lifelong passion for salmon, steelhead and trout fishing, which he patiently passed along to his children and grandchildren.

In time, four generations of Mr. Barto’s immediate family were to call the Island home; Mr. Barto’s parents; sister, Jeanne Pritchard (Frank); daughter, Lindy Weathers (Mr. Barto); sons, Bruce (Sandy), Randy and Stacy, all Island residents, and Chris, now of Port Orchard. Grandchildren Jeremy and Alyssa Barto, Bryan Weathers (Danielle) and Corey Weathers (Heidi) brightened his days while growing up on the Island, while great-grandchildren Alex, Cole, Greyson and Kayden Weathers were a special delight of Mr. Barto’s later days.

Mr. Barto requested no formal service. His family is grateful to the Mercer Island Fire Department, his health providers at Virginia Mason Hospital and Providence Hospice for all the care and support that they provided.