HAGERSTOWN: Richard (Dick) Leon Baker, age 100, passed away on September 25th in Winter Park, Florida. He was married to Sarah (Sally) Elizabeth Wisehart, from Hagerstown. Devoted husband, father, grandfather, colleague and friend, Dick’s kindness, positive attitude and warm sense of humor will be remembered by the many lives he touched.
Dick was an Army veteran, gardener, member of Rotary International and several organizations in Winter Park. He was always active, running track in high school and college, competing in the Olympic trials, and even snowshoeing in Yosemite while on a family vacation when he was 88. He enjoyed travelling the world with his beloved wife, Sally.
Born in Marion on November 22, 1916, to the late Lester and Harriett Baker, he graduated from Marion High School and Ball State University. He met Sally as a senior and they were married two years later at Nettle Creek Church of the Brethren.
While taking graduate courses at Butler University, he enlisted in the Army. After training at Camp Lee, Virginia, Boston, and Ft. Washington, he shipped out of New Orleans on his way to Recife, Brazil, where he served as First Lieutenant and Headquarters Commandant. Upon returning to the U.S. in 1945, he was assigned as an intelligence officer to Camp Stoneman, outside San Francisco, where he was joined by Sally.
Dick and Sally moved to Columbus, Indiana, where their two children, Kathryn and Keith, were born and where he worked at the Union Starch and Refining Company. After Columbus, he and his family lived in Arlington Heights, Illinois and then Chappaqua, New York. He became the Treasurer, VP-Finance and CFO of Reuben H. Donnelley Corporation and was active in civic and professional organizations. The Ball State University School of Business elected him to their Hall of Fame in 1974.
He moved to Winter Park, Florida, with Sally forty years ago to serve as the Executive Vice President of the Winter Park Land Company. He served as an officer, trustee and Chairman of the Finance & Investment Committee of the Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation for over 30 years.
Dick and the love of his life, Sally, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on November 19, 2002. After Sally passed away, he moved into The Mayflower Retirement Community where he enjoyed various activities and vacationing with his grandchildren.
Close friends, colleagues and family from across the States gathered at The Mayflower to celebrate his 100th birthday with him. Dick Baker lived a full, loving, meaningful life.
Dick is survived by his daughter Kathryn and her husband Mahesh, son Keith and his wife Carol, grandson John and granddaughter Laura, whom he adored. Also, his nephew Kenneth Boles and family in Greentown; his nephew Albert Chapman and wife in Eaton, Ohio; his niece Deborah Blair and family and his nephew Roger Mitchell and family, in the Orlando, Florida area; and his grandnieces Dana Flanagan, Julie Potter and Laura Weisenborn and their families, in Richmond and Cambridge City.
Funeral services will be held at 2PM on Saturday, October 7th at Nettle Creek Church of the Brethren, Hagerstown, Indiana. Culberson Funeral Home, Hagerstown, is handling the arrangements.
Donations in Richard Baker’s memory can be made to: •Rotary Club of Winter Park Charitable Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 1416. Winter Park, FL 32790 •Nettle Creek Church of the Brethren, 5352 N. Brick Church Road, Hagerstown, IN 47346