John: a life in photos
Hello, friends and family!
Welcome to the space all about John Baker. He was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dad, a professor, a friend, a neighbor, and an all-around great man.
Baker family portrait: Gary, John, Barb, with Curt sitting. About 1955 (?). I think the boys may have been in Boy Scouts, as the shirts seem to be a uniform of some kind.
Stillman Valley High School play (1964 or 1965). John in top hat as “Snidely Whiplash” and Fran (mom) as the scheming maid. In the play, the maid smacks Snidely Whiplash in the face with a “pie” (whipped cream in an aluminum pan). But Fran’s mother Evelyn made a real banana cream pie and substituted it for the stage version, so John got a face full of custard, bananas, crust and real meringue!
John was drafted into the army in 1971 and served in Germany as a Chaplain’s assistant and sharpshooter.
Michele and John in Germany, 1972
John, Fran & Michele pose for their 1972 Christmas card photo. This picture was taken in Germany at our apartment outside Bad Kanstaat, close to the Porsche factory in Stuttgart.
Fran, Michele holding new baby cousin Amanda (Falk) Bradley, and John celebrate Christmas 1974
In 1977, the Bakers took a trip cross-country from Mississippi to Oregon in this blue-green Dodge van to adopt Kevin. The van had orange curtains, fishing rods on little clamps along the long inner wall, and only front seats. Kevin and Michele jumped around during the entire trip and Fran’s mother Evelyn rode in a wooden armchair sitting loose in the cabin.
In Hattiesburg, Miss. on our way to church. (The yellow building in the background is a Shipley’s Donuts, a weekly bribe to make us behave during the service.) About 1978.
Yes, everybody looked like this in the 1980s when this family photo was taken! All Margaret and Melvin Hoffman’s kids: Gary Baker, Curt Baker, Barb Falk, David Hoffman, John Baker.
This photo of John was taken in 2006 at Trouble Lake (a.k.a. “Z Lake”) near Talkeetna, Alaska. We were trapping stickleback, and I snapped this photo of John as we were setting traps. — Matt Wund
John Baker and Michele Baker visiting the family in Davis Junction, IL (2008)
“Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.” John Baker, Barb Falk, Curt Baker at the 2009 Baker/Hoffman Family Reunion in Rochelle, IL (Margaret’s apartment on 7th Avenue).
John and elder son Kevin Baker at the Baker/Hoffman Family Reunion in Rochelle, IL (2009).
Fish face seems to be a genetic trait carried through the Strang line. :) Margaret and Melvin Hoffman’s anniversary party.
John visits Steve & Yvonne Ross in Colorado, July 2012. We fished two beautiful streams, Quartz Creek and Turkey Creek. We didn’t catch much but we had a lot of fun. — Steve Ross
Vacationing in Hawaii, 2014. Susan Foster, Patrick Baker, Dylan Baker, John Baker.
John at Clark University (2016?) counseling students in the biology lab
Candid reviews of John’s teaching at Clark University - screen capture from RateMyProfessor.com (2017)
Family portrait on the patio in Petersham, Mass. Standing: Warner Cooley, Dylan Baker, Jackie Jusseaume, Patrick Baker. Sitting: Susan Foster, Cameron Baker, John Baker. (2020)
3 generations of Baker men at home in Petersham, Mass: John, younger son Patrick, and grandson Cameron Francis eating an apple (2020)
A whole passel of Bakers in Brandon, Miss. in May 2021. Standing: Fran Baker, Kevin Baker, Dawn Baker. On the swing: Michele Baker, John Baker, Heather Baker. Seated in front: Curt Baker.
This article was among the papers in the attic of June & Ray Fritz, Sr. and given to us by their son, Rodney Fritz. Thanks! (P.S. The “daughter [dad] used to visit” was Darlene Fritz.)
If you’d like to say something about John, please add your thoughts as a comment below (remember to include your name, so we’ll all know who you are).