[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 18 (Thursday, January 29, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1056-S1057]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING JOHN A. BAKER

 Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I wish to praise a citizen from 
my State who recently passed away. In December John A. Baker who was 
loved and respected by those who knew and worked with him lost his 
battle with pancreatic cancer.
  John A. Baker is survived by his wife Judy of 42 years, son Jesse M. 
Baker Sr., daughter Leslie Cummings, grandchildren Maria Graham, April 
Blakemore, Jesse M. Baker Jr., great grandson Joseph, mother-in-law 
Lenora Moore, sister-in-law Susan Wooden, nephews Jim and Mark Wooden, 
great niece Marina Lenora Wooden, brother-in-law Charles Moore, nephews 
Richard, Ryan, Mathew, and Kyle Moore. John is also survived by sister 
Lena Susort, brother Cecil Baker, nieces Lavonne Ruggles, Mary Beth 
Dagit, Barbara Collins and nephew Frank Baker, and several great, great 
great nieces and nephews.
  John A. Baker was like many Alaskans. He was born in Iowa in 1937 and 
graduated from Everett High School in Everett, Washington in 1949 
before finding his way to our great State. I have to tell you, what was 
Washington and Iowa's loss, was Alaska's gain.
  John found his way to Alaska after serving in the U.S. Army in 
Australia during the Korean conflict. Upon coming to Alaska he first 
worked in Ketchikan where he was employed by Ketchikan Soda Works. He 
also flew part time for Weber Air and worked at Ellis Airlines as a 
mechanic in the landing gear section where he met and later partnered 
with Chuck Traylor.
  He and Chuck Traylor formed a floatplane operation, Stikine Air 
Service, out of Wrangell in 1962. John held both an airframe and power 
plant mechanic license and was one of our Alaskan bush pilots. After 
selling his interest in the Stikine Air Service he moved to Juneau to 
work for Channel Flying Service.
  John met Judy Moore Churchill in 1964, they were married on March 11, 
1966, and moved to Juneau. After 3 years John and Judy returned to 
Wrangell where John worked at Wrangell's first television station. In 
conjunction with John's position at the TV station Judy opened Forget-
Me-Not Florist, which provided many, many flower arrangements that went 
to the grand opening of the brand new saw mill office and other 
businesses in town.
  Always the entrepreneurs and getting tired of never being able to 
purchase milk at the end of the week, John and Judy rented a small 
building from C.V. Hendersen and began a home milk delivery and small 
``cash and carry'' market. As things changed John, along with wife, 
Judy entered

[[Page S1057]]

the field of rentals and real estate where they devoted over 35 years 
of their lives and presently own Grand View Bed and Breakfast which 
overlooks Zimovia Strait and the Elephants' Nose. Also, during this 
time John continued to occasionally fly for Stikine Air Service and 
worked as a truck driver on the North Slope until his retirement.
  During this time Judy also served as the business manager for the 
Wrangell District of the U.S. Forest Service where she and John served 
as surrogate parents and guardians for many of the new Forest Service 
employees and couples who came to Alaska to work in the Wrangell Ranger 
District. It was through their wisdom and kindness and John's sense of 
humor that dozens of young families learned how to assimilate 
themselves into the Wrangell community.
  John was a 1961 active Past Master Mason of the Ketchikan Masonic 
Lodge No. 19, a member of Ducks Unlimited, Muskeg Meadows Golf Club, 
Friends of the Museum, Wrangell Elks Lodge No. 1595, Pioneers of Alaska 
Igloo No. 15, and a member of Teamsters Local 959. He served on the 
Inter-Island Ferry Authority from its inception until 1999. John also 
spent many volunteer hours working as a docent at the Wrangell Museum 
when tour ships were in.
  John was also a man who invested in his community. He served on the 
Wrangell City Council five different times including: October 1989-
October 1990; November 1993-October 1994; October 1994-October 1997; 
January 1998-October 1998; and finally from April 1999-October 1999.
  As I said, the Bakers are well known in Wrangell for helping young 
couples new to Alaska learn the ways of Alaska as well as for John's 
sense of humor. When asked why he moved to Wrangell he would always 
tell people it was his ``youthful exuberance.'' And when asked in the 
1980s why he had decided to work on the Alaska pipeline instead of 
continuing his flying career he simply said ``there are not many old, 
bold, pilots in Alaska--besides work on the pipeline paid more.''
  Judy and John were always willing to lend a hand and help their 
neighbors and to make their community--Wrangell--a better place for 
everyone to live. John invested himself in southeast Alaska and made 
Wrangell a ``better community'' and made all that knew him ``better 
people.'' He will be missed by his family and friends and most 
importantly by his loving wife of 42 years, Judy. God grant him his 
just reward, he will be missed in Wrangell and in the hearts of those 
who knew him--God's speed John Baker, may the wind always be under your 
wings.

                          ____________________