Burton Howard Baker

Burt Baker was born on September 11, 1926 in Sioux City, Iowa, the son of Henry Walter and Carrie (Erskine) Baker. He passed away peacefully on January 7, 2017 at Woodland Terrace in Bridgman, after a valiant struggle with Alzheimer’s. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, January 14, 2017, at First Congregational Church, 2001 Niles Avenue, St. Joseph, MI., with Rev. Dr. Robert Braman officiating.  Interment following at Riverview Cemetery.  Visitation is from 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. Friday at Starks & Menchinger Chapel & Cremation Services, 2650 Niles Ave., St. Joseph. Memorial contributions may be made to First Congregational Church, St. Joseph, MI or Alzheimer’s Association of Ann Arbor, MI.  Those wishing to sign Burt’s Memory Book online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com Burt served two years in the US Navy and married Norma Rose Hammond in Ames, Iowa, on September 2, 1949. He graduated from Iowa State University in 1950 with a degree in Electrical Engineering.  Burt began his career as a product engineer at Amana Refrigeration, Amana, Iowa.  He joined Whirlpool Corporation in 1958 as a patent engineer, and continued his studies and graduated with a law degree from George Washington University in 1966 with high honors. He continued at Whirlpool Corporation as a Corporate Attorney for more than 30 years. He was a member of the St. Joseph Planning Commission for 21 years, serving several years as Chairman; active on several boards and in the choir at First Congregational Church of St. Joseph where he was a member for more than 60 years; a board member of the Samaritan Counseling Center, and was a Soup Kitchen volunteer. One favorite retirement activity was to extensively research and publish his findings on the Bell-Gray telephone patent battle, writing a book entitled, “The Gray Matter: The Forgotten Story of the Telephone”. He is survived by his daughter Sarah (Jeff) Yircott of St. Joseph, MI; daughter Betsy (Rob) Newell of Santa Monica, CA; and son Benjamin (Bethany) of Davison, MI; grandchildren Kevin Yircott of Royal Oak, MI; Katherine Yircott of Chicago, IL; Allison Newell of Los Angeles CA; Tyler Newell of Miami Beach, FL; Lindsay (Neil) DeVries of San Antonio, TX; Brett (Sona) Baker of Edison, NJ; Nicholas Baker of East Lansing, MI; and great-granddaughter Caitlin Rose DeVries.   He was preceded in death by his beloved wife Norma, his parents, and his brothers Bruce and Robert. The family would like to express their deepest appreciation to the caring staff of Woodland Terrace, for the loving care they provided. Also, the expanded care and love from Hospice at Home will not be forgotten.