Obituary for Harold Edward Baker. Jr., 1919-2014
WWII Navy Seabee 2 Special (Construction Battalion) in the South pacific and a member of the Indiana Air National Guard, 181st Tactical Fighter Squadron, at Hulman Base during the Korean War era, Harold Baker passed peacefully after a short illness and hospitalization in Indianapolis. He spent the first half of his ninety-five years in Terre Haute, and the latter half in Clay City.
Harold was born July 24, 1919, in Dennison, Illinois, of Harold E. Baker, Sr. and Gretchen Marie (Swindle) Baker. and was preceded in death by his sweetheart and wife of sixty-three years, Ernestine (Ethington) Baker The couple lived forty-five years in the house he built on his favorite fishing lake in Clay City; they spent their last year together at Sycamore Manor, T.H. Harold was also preceded in death by three younger siblings, Newt Baker, Evelyn Davis (Stanley), and Nancy Reynolds (James). and by a cousin who was like a second brother, Jack Beach of W.T.H.
Surviving Harold are a daughter, Sharon Baker Jaggard, and a son, Harold E. Baker, Ill and wife, Laurette McCarthy, along with three grandsons, Chris Baker, Seth Baker (Mandy Shook) and Charles Jaggard (Terin), and two great-granddaughters and a great grandson on the way. Also surviving Harold are many beloved nieces arid nephews, and one brother-in-law, William Ethington, who served alongside Harold as a WWII Seabee and who married Harold’s cousin, Mary Todd of Toledo.
Mr. Baker was retired from the Indiana State University Library, and had formerly worked at Hulman Base for several years. While at ISU, he obtained a grant from Washington DC to automate and network all of the public, private, college and university libraries in the State of Indiana, forming INCOLSA, which served as a model for other states. He was a member of Clay City VFW Post #6606 and TH Post #972, the Masonic Lodge, the American Legion and the German Oberlander Club. He was an Eagle Scout and served as a Scout Leader for a few years in T.H. He and his late wife had been members of the First United Church of Christ in Clay City.
After WWII, he finished his high school (Wiley) diploma taking the GED, and earned the B.A. degree at Indiana State on the GI Bill, and much later earned the MLS (Master of Library Science) degree from ISU; he was a member of the ISU Alumni. As a young boy, Harold helped his father complete work on several contracts his dad had with the city of Terre Haute. Noteworthy were contracts for major work at Deming Park (Such as digging the canal between the back and front ponds), a contract to plant the trees along Ohio Blvd. from Fruitridge to 25th Street (or 19th), which are now large, old, and very beautiful. In addition, his father managed a large farm at Fruitridge and Ohio where the family lived, and he managed the Indiana Theatre and four other movie theatres in downtown T.H. Harold helped with the farm work and as a student at Woodrow Wilson Jr. High, he would get up around 5:00 a.m. on the farm, and run or bike from Fruitridge Ave. to the Indiana Theatre to “…sweep the floors, dust the seats, and shine the brass,” and run back in time for school at Woodrow; then after school he would again run or bike to the theatres downtown to clean the lobby glass doors. He could run the mile in under 4 as the story goes, and Woodrow Wilson wanted him on the track team; he had to decline because he had to run to work after school each day.
In Terre Haute and Clay City, Harold seemed to know and befriend everybody. This past year, he often attended The Caring Place in Indianapolis, (dubbed the “Sr. Veterans Club”), where he continued to entertain with stories and make new friends. Fishing and entertaining with a fish fry or pig roast at the Clay City lake home was his great joy. He was known to be smart, tough, full of fun and hard working, and always ready to help, and he never backed down from anyone or anything. He led a long, generally happy, healthy and productive life, and will be missed and loved by many.
Graveside services will be held on Saturday, November 1, 2014, at 1:00 p.m., at the Roselawn Memorial Park, North Terre Haute. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to the Disabled Veterans of Indiana. Online condolences may be left at www.debaunfuneralhomes.com DeBaun Funeral Home, Springhill Chapel, 85 E. Springhill Dr. is in charge of arrangements.