Donat R. Baribault

Donat Rodolphe Baribault was born February 3, 1885, in New Haven, Connecticut, to Jules Baribault and Marie (Lanouette) Baribault. Both of his parents were natives of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade in Mauricie, Quebec. He attended the New Haven public schools and the Séminaire Saint-Joseph de Trois-Rivières in Quebec. He graduated from the École Polytechnique de Montréal in 1909 with a BS, with additional postgraduate study in architecture with Joseph Haynes, a professor at the same school. In 1912 he began practice as an architect and engineer in Winnipeg, Manitoba, staying until 1917. He then moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, where he worked for the Samuel M. Green Company, architects and engineers. In 1920 he opened his own office as an architect in Springfield. As an architect Baribault specialized in the design of churches and institutional buildings for the Catholic church.[1][2] He practiced architecture into the 1960s.[3]

Baribault was a member of the Architectural Society of Western Massachusetts for whom he served as Secretary (1942–43) and President (1944–45). In 1955 he joined the American Institute of Architects.[2]

In Springfield, Baribault was a parishioner of St. Joseph R. C. Church. He was married in 1918 to Rosalie M. Remillard of Lorette, Manitoba. They had seven children. Baribault died March 19, 1970, in Springfield at the age of 85.[1]

Baribault's churches were designed in the Byzantine Revival, Gothic Revival and Renaissance Revival styles, all popular for churches. Baribault's two largest works, the churches of the Immaculate Conception in Holyoke and Notre Dame in Worcester, have both been demolished. One of his works has been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places, and another contributes to a listed historic district.