Tommy’s smile ‘illuminated the town’
While we knew he was unwell around Christmas time, it came as a great shock to hear on Friday that Tommy Baker had died. So many remarked that they had seen him out walking over the few days before his death but that was nothing unusual for Tommy as he must have walked every path and road in Munster in his time.
A member of a well known and respected Fermoy family, Tommy’s barber shop on MacCurtain Street (the family home, now TheAvondhu office) was a virtual photo gallery, the walls adorned with pictures of the town and surrounding areas. Tommy continued business there up until his retirement in the late 1990s.
Tommy was a great man to converse with and his quiet, unassuming manner endeared him to all with whom he came in contact. An avid swimmer, Tommy swam in the Blackwater every morning between June and September, a routine he undertook since he was a young man and one he continued with up until quite recently.
In his younger days, Tommy would swim twice a day in the river - at 7am and again at 7pm, a practice that Tommy himself said was ‘unique’ and one that ‘couldn’t be rivalled by a swimming pool’. Little wonder then that his grandson Owen O’Keefe, undertook some daunting distance challenges including swimming the Channel. And Owen would be first to agree that his greatest fan and mentor was his grandad.
Tommy was a member of the
local ‘ ramblers’ and could regularly be seen on his own, traversing the various walking routes all over North East Cork and indeed further afield when the wasn’t walking through the streets and lanes of his home town.
Tommy was part of Fermoy International Choir’s unique re-imagining of the local ballad ‘My Home In Fermoy’ and it is somewhat of a coincidence that Tommy chose to leave this world on the very day the project was released online. Tommy was one of 32 people living in the town who contributed to the production, with his voice and image used throughout the recording.
On behalf of the choir, Graham Clifford said Tommy’s gentle smile ‘illuminated the town’. “We were shocked to hear that he had passed away and we send our love, sympathy and best wishes to his family and huge pool of friends.”
The choir immediately rededicated the project tribute to Tommy and another valued member who passed recently, Dave Roche - ‘two giants whose loss will be hugely felt by a town they loved - and loved them back’
Friends, neighbours and members of the public stood out to pay tribute to Tommy before noon on Wednesday as his funeral cortege travelled down Cork Road via Emmet Street, College Road, Richmond Hill, Patrick Street and MacCurtain Street on its way to St Patrick’s Church. Following Requiem Mass, members of the public also stood in tribute as the cortege made its way through the town on its way to Kilcrumper cemetery.
Pre-deceased by his wife Virginia (née Riordan), Tommy will be greatly missed by his daughter Breda, sons Tom, Michael and John, his grandchildren Owen, Amy, Nonie, George, Allie and Katie to whom he was devoted, his sisters Clair and Brenda, his relatives, neighbours and many friends to whom we extend our deepest sympathy.
We met you on your daily round, You wore a smile and never a frown; No winter winds or driving rain Could dampen the spirit that maintained
Your search for youthful joy and gain On the hills above Blackwater.
It was in that river’s morning light You found that spirit in the quiet Of daybreak, where Blackwater flows And brings new life to all who know The meaning of the early swim For health of mind and youthful skin.
And when that river current lately Became too strong for Baker and Bartley,
You took to climb the Pike once more With a practice run on Rathealy Road.
We will miss you Tommy on future rambles,
May your spirit soar to your heavenly mansion.
(Your fellow ‘ramblers’)