Portrait of Thomas Barron. IMB Photo

Thomas Olon Barron, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in South and Southeast Asia, died July 21, 2025, in Pleasant Hill, Tennessee. He was 91.  

Tom was born May 27, 1934, in Forest, Louisiana, to the late Archie and Alma Barron. He graduated from Richton (Mississippi) High School and received the Bachelor of Arts from William Carey College (now William Carey University), Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and the Master of Divinity from New Orleans (Louisiana) Baptist Theological Seminary.  

In May 1957, he was drafted and joined the United States Army for two years. In November 1958, while home on leave, he married Hazel Clark, whom he had met in high school. In early 1960, they moved to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where he enrolled in college. In June of the same year, he was called to pastor Williamsburg Baptist Church 30 miles from Hattiesburg and was ordained to gospel ministry. The following year, he and Hazel moved to New Orleans to attend seminary. Following graduation, he was called to pastor Mount Lebanon Baptist Church in Covington, Tennessee. 

While seeking missionary appointment he wrote, “Whenever I preached on missions or heard a missionary message or read of the call for 5,000 missionaries as soon as possible, there always came the reminder, ‘You could go.’ Therefore, I asked, ‘Why shouldn’t I go?’ Prayerfully, I considered the matter. Hazel brought up the subject also. … At last, I concluded that God was calling us to mission service. … There came to our hearts a peace and an assurance that the right decision had been made.” 

In 1967, the International Mission Board appointed Tom and Hazel missionaries to Southeast Asia. They also served in South Asia. They retired from missionary service after 34 years. 

Tom is survived by his wife of 66 years, Hazel C. Barron; son, Tom Barron Jr.; daughter, Rebecca Taylor; and brother, Allen Barron.  

A funeral service was held July 24 at First Baptist Church in Crossville, Tennessee, with burial in Old Pleasant Hill Cemetery. 

Read an obituary here.