[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 5 (Monday, January 9, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H200]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    REMEMBERING DR. BILLY BERT BAKER

  (Mr. WOMACK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. WOMACK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay respects to an admired, 
respected, and visionary educator, and a genuinely terrific person, Dr. 
Billy Bert Baker, of Gilbert, Arkansas, who passed away on Friday, 
January 6, at the age of 84.
  My relationship with Dr. Baker goes back decades. He was a family 
friend. After spending 17 years as a faculty member and administrator 
at my alma mater, Arkansas Tech, in 1974, he became the first employee 
of North Arkansas College in Harrison, served the college for more than 
27 years, was its founding president, and retired at the age of 68.
  Under his leadership, Northark achieved several firsts, one of the 
most noteworthy being the 1993 merger of Northark and Twin Lakes 
Technical College, the first consolidation of a community college and a 
technical college in Arkansas. Billy Bert was also instrumental in the 
creation of both Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville 
and the ASU--Mountain Home campus.
  Dr. Baker's own unofficial motto was to ``help people grow, one at a 
time.'' That is exactly what he spent his life doing. He touched the 
lives of thousands--made them better men and women--and his legacy 
continues to enrich the lives of people throughout northern and 
northwest Arkansas through the institutions of higher learning that he 
envisioned decades ago.
  Rest in peace, Dr. Baker. My deepest condolences are with Bonnie, 
your wife of 63 years; your two sons, daughter, grandchildren; and the 
entire Northark family in this time of great loss.

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