Thomas C. Hoerth

Thomas C. Hoerth 1959 – 2021 GRAY – Tom Hoerth, of Gray and Bath, died Dec. 29, 2021 at his home, with his wife Jennifer, his children, and his siblings by his side. The cause was multiple myeloma. He was born July 18, 1959, in Cincinnati. He was the youngest child of Joseph and Carolyn Shields Hoerth, and, as an active kid who always wanted to be outside, brought much joy and laughter to his family. He graduated in 1978 from Greenwich High School in Greenwich, Conn., and from the University of Maine in 1987 with a degree in Horticulture. He and his first wife, Mary Ellen Bell (m. 1987), settled in Bath, where they raised their two daughters. Tom’s motto was, “It all comes back to trees.” Throughout his life, he found ways to share his passions for the natural world, education, and community-building. As the Bath City Arborist and Tree Warden, a role he held from 2001 to 2015, he stewarded Bath’s urban forest and educated the community about the wonders of trees! For his ongoing collaboration with Bath science teachers and students, he received the Morse High School Mainsail Award in 2009. He was a longtime member of the International Society of Arboriculture (serving as the New England Chapter president in 2011), and loved connecting with colleagues from around the country and the world. Points of pride included doing hazard tree assessment in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, hosting the New England Tree Climbing Championship in the Library Park in Bath, and helping to rewrite the ISA’s Board Certified Master Arborist exam. More recently, he taught Horticulture at Southern Maine Community College. In 2013, he married Jennifer Kuhn; they met playing music with the Tuners at the Jam Shack, and their relationship grew from their shared love of music. Together, they started a winter organic farm on their land in North Bath, where they grew greens, made maple syrup, planted fruit trees, and enjoyed life with their menagerie of animals. Anyone who knew Tom will remember his larger-than-life presence, his stories, and his infectious laugh. He was predeceased by his parents Joseph and Carolyn Hoerth. He is survived by his wife, Jennifer Hoerth of Gray and Bath; children Carrie Bell-Hoerth (and husband Matt Weeks) of Brunswick, and Emily Bell-Hoerth (and spouse Nicky Sontag) of Wiscasset; and their mother, Mary Ellen Bell of Bath; brother, Jeff Hoerth of South Berwick, sister, Susan Baker of Columbus, Ohio, sister, Oakley Hoerth of Rockport, Mass.; parents-in-law Donald and Valerie Kuhn of Syracuse, N.Y.; and many beloved nieces, nephews; great-nieces, great-nephews; siblings-in-law; and other extended family and friends. If you’d like to honor Tom, you can plant a tree (as his truck’s bumper sticker said), donate blood (as he proudly did every 56 days), and get your covid vaccine. Memorial donations may be made to the Women’s Tree Climbing Workshop, Maine Farmland Trust, and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.