John F. Baesch, Spouse of Hamden Hall Alumna

John F. Baesch, of South Baltimore, an Army veteran and retired CSX and Amtrak executive, died Nov. 14, of heart failure. He was 78. John is survived by his wife of 20 years, Hamden Hall alumna Evelyn Herzog, Class of 1965.

John entered Loyola University of Maryland in 1962 and enrolled in its Army ROTC program. During his college years, he worked as a copy boy in The Sun’s morning editorial department from 1963 until his graduation in 1966. After graduation, as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve, he was assigned to the Army Transportation Corps at Fort Eustis, Virginia. Before active duty in 1967, he taught English at the old Southern High School in Federal Hill. He was discharged in 1971 with the rank of captain and his decorations included the Bronze Star. In 1990, he was appointed general manager of the Amtrak-operated commuter rail in the Boston area. In 1993 he was in charge of Amtrak’s day-to-day operations in Phila. After retiring from Amtrak in 1999, he joined Parsons Brinckerhoff engineering firm as a senior specialist, a position he held until retiring in 2013. During his time with Parsons Brinckerhoff , he worked on projects for MARC, Virginia Railway Express and the Northeast Corridor. 

Hamden Hall extends sincere condolences to Evelyn. To read full obituary, please click here.