Robert D. 'Bob' Baker Sr., 63

Robert D. "Bob" Baker Sr., 63, "passed from this life into the next" on Friday, June 10, 2005, at home near Marion with his family at his side.

He is survived by Tommy, his loving wife of 35 years; nine children, Sherry Langlois of Bremerton, Wash., Scott Baker of Sequim, Wash., April Cromwell of Oklahoma City, Okla., Sheila Lawrence of Boise, Idaho, Robert Jr. of Colorado Springs, Colo., Abigail Crisp of Silverdale, Wash., Laurie Bridge of Cathedral City, Calif., Claire Fraser of Post Falls, Idaho, and Christopher Baker, living at home. He also is survived by 17 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; his brother, Glen Baker, of Chimicum, Wash.; and his parents, Newton and Laree Baker, of Mount Vernon, Wash.

Bob was born in Sedro-Woolley, Wash., on Oct. 3, 1941. He spent his childhood and teen years in the Skagit Valley, graduating from Mount Baker High School in Deming, Wash., where he excelled in football and skiing and served as the drum major of the marching band.

He enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1960, serving four years, during which time he was stationed in Key West, Fla., during the Cuban Missile Crisis and was a champion skier on the Air Force team and an alternate on the Olympic Skiing Team.

After his enlistment, he returned to the Pacific Northwest where he established Baker Equipment with his brother and owned his own construction company. In 1975, he bought a ranch in Northwestern Montana, near Kalispell, and spent the remainder of his working years in the agriculture business, much of the time as the owner/operator of a farm implement business.

He was a loving father and husband and will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. today, June 14, at Buffalo Hill Funeral Home in Kalispell.