Joseph Harrington

Joseph Harrington left us on September 11, 2026, at age 87, after a long, full life of service to family and community. He will be remembered for his kind and gentle comportment amid his firm commitments to integrity and tradition. He was devoted to his career, community, and family, but found time to pursue interests in nature (skiing and hiking), photography, music, and travel. Until his latest years he maintained strong relationships with groups from all those aspects of his life.

Joe was born in Boston in 1939 and lived his early life in Wenham, where he participated in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, achieving the rank of Star Scout and Patrol Leader, and held summer-job positions in the Appalachian Mountain Club huts. He attended Mount Hermon School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1961, master’s in 1963, and doctorate of science in 1966, the latter two in nuclear engineering. He was an active MIT volunteer and donor from 1961 through his final years.

In 1961, he met his future wife of 54 years, Diethild (Didi), in Vienna during a semester abroad. They married in 1963. After positions at a nuclear research lab in Seibersdorf, Austria, and Commonwealth Edison in Chicago, in 1973, Joe and Didi and their two sons moved to Westborough. Joe took a position with the New England Electric System, initially as Project Manager of a proposed nuclear plant and ultimately as Vice President of New England Power, where he managed the system’s coal- and oil-burning power plants. Joe set out on a career to save the environment through conversion to clean nuclear power, but the Three Mile Island incident shut down the American nuclear industry. Undeterred, Joe spent the rest of his power-business career cleaning up old coal plants like Manchester Street Station in Providence, restoring their toxic grounds, and using modern technology to improve efficiency and reduce emissions into the air and water.

In 1993 Joe found a new trail to explore, returning to MIT as Assistant Dean and Director of Development for the School of Engineering and then as a Senior Development Officer for MIT as a whole until retirement in 2004. His largest project was the Stata Center, which includes the Gates Building (he and Bill Gates are listed on a plaque as co-sponsors of the adjacent amphitheater). He volunteered with the MIT Venture Mentoring Service, advising startups in the electric power business, and the MIT Educational Council, interviewing prospective student applicants. He was awarded MIT’s Bronze Beaver in 2006 for service to the Institute.

Joe was active in the administration of the town of Westborough and its Congregational Church, serving on several school and church committees, on Westborough’s Advisory Finance Committee, and as church moderator. In March, 1990, he was elected Town Moderator, serving through the 2013 meeting. He remained active in the Massachusetts Moderators’ Association through 2020, serving as President and co-editing Town Meeting Time, the parliamentary procedures manual of New England town meetings. In later active years, he served as a Disaster Action Team Member for the American Red Cross, assisting victims of fires, floods, and other disasters. For his years of service to the community, the Boy Scouts of America recognized Joe with the 2016 Good Scout Award.

Joe never lost touch with his White Mountains hiking boots, and made a point of getting up on ridges several times a year until age 75. In 2001 he completed a major goal of hiking the portion of the Appalachian Trail between the west bank of the Hudson River and the top of Mount Katahdin, in 4-14-day sections, over the course 12 years, often accompanied by his son Joe. He climbed all 65 peaks 4,000 feet or higher in New England, as well as many in the Austrian Alps. Nature photography was a passion enabled by hiking. Natural beauty and wonder became a Christmas gift to family and friends in the form of his annual photo calendar.

In 2019, Joe started a new life with new friends at The Willows at Westborough retirement community, where he served a year as Treasurer of the Willows Residents’ Association. He sang solo show tunes in the annual talent show, and whenever a willing ear could be found. In 2025, he transitioned to their Whitney Place assisted living facility, where he made strong connections within their loving community.

Above all, Joe devoted his life to family. Wife Didi moved to the U.S., but they always kept the family connected to the Austrian family and culture. Family vacation time was spent either in Vienna or the lakes of Austria near Salzburg, with memorable extended-family reunions alongside European travel adventures. Joe and especially Didi were active in the Austro-American Association of Boston.

Joe is survived by two sons, Joseph and Robert, Joseph’s wife Sara and son Joseph, Robert’s wife Heidi and their sons Maxwell and Bradley. Joe’s older sister Joan Smith of Hillsboro Oregon, with husband Roger and nieces Audrey and Diana; Joe’s younger sister Anne Heider of Evanston, Illinois, and niece Dove Hunter; and nieces and nephews from Didi’s sisters: Sigrid and Reiner Ihringer and Alexander, Kanja, Reto, and Jennifer Somm.

Joe lived many lifetimes in his single life, and still kept close ties with the groups from each phase: MIT friends, Hut Croo friends, NEES friends, Westborough Town Administration friends, Church friends, fraternity brothers, and Austro-American Association friends. They would all likely echo this sentiment: Joe’s dedication to his family, his career, and the community will be remembered by many, and for many years to come. Above all, his commitment to integrity and to kind and proper manner of interaction with family, friend, and stranger alike stood out as an example for how to live one’s life as part of a harmonious society.

Calling hours for Joe are on Friday, October 9, 2026, 4-7 pm, at Pickering & Son Westborough Funeral Home, 62 West Main Street, Westborough, Massachusetts.

On Saturday, October 10, 2026, following a private burial, the public memorial service will commence at 10:30 am in the Congregational Church of Westborough, 57 West Main Street, Westborough, Massachusetts. 

In lieu of flowers, Joe requested donations to the Joseph Harrington Memorial Fellowship Fund #2 (3324700) at MIT, a scholarship fund:

https://giving.mit.edu/joe-harrington

Get to know Joe:

Bob Brown interviewed Joe Harrington on Westborough TV:

https://youtu.be/NQd_sgRRSA4?is=aXDq3y9jm9L_m_Bo

Watch Joe perform “Surrey with the Fringe on Top” from the musical Oklahoma! (starts at 4:00):

http://live.westboroughtv.org/CablecastPublicSite/show/12025?site=1