LeRoy Baker 1919-2008

BAKER, GOODWIN, QUINTARD

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 5/19/2008 at 23:43:46

Sioux City Journal
11 January 2008

Whiting, Iowa-LeRoy Baker, 88, of Whiting died Thursday,Jan. 10, 2008, at Burgess Health Center in Onawa, Iowa.

Memorial services will be 10:30 a.m. Monday at Whiting Christian Church, with the Rev. Rusty Hedger officiating. Burial will be in Harrison Cemetery, with military rites conducted by the U.S. Army. There will be no visitation. Arrangements are under the direction of Rush Family Care Service in Onawa.

Leroy was born Aug. 10, 1919, in Sloan, Iowa, the son of George W. and Bessie (Goodwin) Baker. He graduated from Sloan High School and attended Wayne State Teacher's College. He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps and served his country during World War II.

While he was in the service, he and Genevieve Quintard were united in marriage on March 10, 1943, in Lawton, Iowa. The couple farmed in Monona County. He also worked at the pharmacy in Onawa and later the Agriculture Stabilization Conservation Service for 15 years.

He was a member of Whiting Christian Church. He devoted his adult life to the sport of pigeon racing, coached Little League baseball for more than 20 years and was an avid gardener.

Survivors include his wife of nearly 65 years, Genevieve Baker of Whiting; a son and his wife, Bradley and Nancy Baker of Joplin, Mo.; a daughter and her husband, Pamela and Norman Dunbar of Whiting; four grandchildren, Matthew and Elizabeth Dunbar, both of Sioux City, Kevin Baker of San Antonio, Texas, and Holly and her husband, Wallace Ray of Kansas City, Mo.; four great-grandchildren, Catherine, Grace, Isaiah and Isaac; and two sisters, Jayne Hansen of South Sioux City and Betty Eckstein of Denver, Colo.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two sisters, Dorothy Johnson and Lorraine Parsley; and a brother, Russell.