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Michael P. Bareau of Manhattan and Southampton died Saturday, May 28, after a courageous fight with colon cancer. He was 74.
Mr. Bareau was born and raised in England; his parents lived in London during World War II and he vividly remembered childhood excitement at the tracer bullets he saw from his bedroom which lit up the night sky.
He was educated at Eton College and at John’s College, Cambridge University, where he earned a Masters of Arts in engineering. He joined Vickers (since absorbed into British Aerospace) and after a period with a consulting engineering firm moved to IBM, specializing in continuous process control and measurement, and working on major accounts in the oil, foodstuffs and electricity sectors. Mr. Bareau transferred to the U.S. with IBM in 1976 and became a U.S. citizen in 2007. After retiring from IBM in 1991, he set up his own consultation business and continued working as a specialist in his field until weeks before he died.
Music was an essential part of Mr. Bareau’s life. He founded the award-winning Cambridge Modern Jazz Quartet and his trumpet was a close companion throughout the rest of his life. He played gigs with fellow musicians and jammed to records and CDs of famous bebop artists.
His personality and training gave him an understanding of how things worked. He was a fine and meticulous craftsman, whether as a restorer of classic cars, maker of custom furniture, or as a skilled chef. Mr. Bareau, fluent in French, had a special affinity with the southwest of France and its vineyards, where he bought some land on which he planned one day to build. He and his wife, Sarah or “Sally,” made frequent visits to his family in England. At home in the U.S. they lived in Manhattan and had a house overlooking Little Fresh Pond in Southampton, where Mr. Bareau was an active member of the Southampton Town Lakes & Ponds Association.
As a skiing enthusiast, Mr. Bareau and his wife liked to keep fit on ski slopes and during the summer with special grass skis. They also enjoyed swimming in the lake and walking on the beach together.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Bareau is survived by his children, Ione Bareau Manners of Yorkshire, England, and Megan Turner of Shropshire, England; and grandchildren, Josh, Harry, Ollie, and Daisy Turner, Alice, Keira and Oscar Manners.
Ms. Bareau will receive friends at her home on Little Fresh Pond in Southampton in July. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Weill Cornell Medical College, med.cornell.edu/ways-to-give/cancer-research.html.
on Jun 7, 2011