Echoes Through Time: Dawn

Thomas ("T.E.") Barth was born and lived in Spring Lake Heights, New Jersey for over 60 years before moving to the Washington, D.C. area for work in 2013. During his formative years he was raised in a faithful and compassionate environment. He was a member of the congregation at First Methodist Church in Belmar, NJ, signing in the choir. His life was that of a normal middle-income child growing up in suburban America. When he left for college in 1968, he was considering the priesthood, and he committed to Methodist College (now Methodist University} in Fayetteville, North Carolina. It was there that the shy and quiet boy began to see other aspects of life that had been forbidden to him at home. By 1974, he had experimented with marijuana and LSD, marched in civil rights protests, been strip-searched by New Jersey policemen, and more. And he had met Pamela Hurley, who would be his soulmate for 44 years.