By Jane Keller Gordon, Contributing Writer
Westborough – Joe Harrington will be presented with the 2016 Westborough Good Scout Award Tuesday, Nov. 15, during the annual Good Scout Dinner at the DoubleTree Hotel in Westborough. Stephen Lavoie, district executive of the Knox Trail Boy Scouts Council of America, said that award recipients “… must carry the “Spirit of Scouting” into their adult lives. They are people who have been unselfish in their service to others on an individual and community basis.”
Lavoie added, “Our Westborough Good Scout Committee saw the important role Joe has played as an important part in the history of the town of Westborough.”
Well-known and highly respected in Westborough, Harrington, 77, served as the elected town moderator from 1990 to 2014, and was a member of the town’s advisory finance committee from 1988 to 1990.
Harrington, who grew up in Wenham, was a Cub Scout and Boy Scout.
He said, “Being a patrol leader was my first opportunity to be singled out, and have the responsibility to make something happen.”
To the 245 Knox Trail Scouts in Westborough, he suggests, “First take on leadership within your troop, and then go on from there. You will feel less trepidation stepping into other situations outside of Scouting as time goes on.”
Leadership and accomplishment have been recurring themes throughout Harrington’s life. He is a 1961 graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as is his son (1988), his father (1930) and his grandfather (1896).
In addition to his undergraduate degree, Harrington earned his master’s and doctorate in nuclear engineering from MIT. As an undergraduate, he was the editor of the student newspaper, “The Tech.”
Harrington met his wife, Diethild (Didi), in Vienna the summer after he completed his bachelor’s degree. They married two years later, in 1963.
Once he completed his long stint at MIT, Harrington and his wife lived in Vienna, where he worked in a nuclear research lab. Two-and-a-half years later, they came back to the states and lived in Illinois and New York, before settling back in New England.
“No place else seemed like home,” he noted.
In 1973, the family moved to Westborough, where they raised their sons Joe and Robert. Both were active in scouting; Joe earned the Eagle Scout rank. Harrington said that he and his wife volunteered for many hours on troop committees for Westborough’s Troops 100 and 382.
Harrington led a busy professional life working for New England Electric System companies during the two decades after the family moved to Westborough. From 1973 to 1980, he was project manager for nuclear energy at New England Power Company. Next, he transitioned to conventional energy production as vice president for Thermal Production, overseeing 800 employees. From 1987 to 1993, his job involved finding new sites for alternative energy products.
Retiring from New England Electric (now National Grid) at the age of 55, Harrington began a new career at his alma mater as MIT’s assistant dean and director of development for the School of Engineering, and then as a senior development officer in the school’s central administration.
Ten years later, in 2004, Harrington retired from MIT, although he continues to hold numerous volunteer posts.
Harrington continued his efforts as Westborough’s town moderator for another 10 years after leaving his job at MIT. He continues as deputy town moderator, filling in when the current town moderator, John Arnold, has a conflict with a meeting. He is a member of the Massachusetts Moderators Association.
An active outdoorsman, Harrington has scaled all the 4,000-foot peaks in New England, and hiked the Appalachian Trail from the western side of the Hudson River to Mount Katahdin in Maine. He also enjoys nature photography.
The Westborough Good Scouts Award Dinner Nov. 15 starts at 6 p.m. The cost is $55 per person. If you would like to attend or be a sponsor, contact the Knox Trail Council at 508-872-6551 or sign-up online at www.ktc-bsa.org/event/wgsd/.