Henry Jack Baker
Henry Jack Baker passed away peacefully at home Sunday morning, July 13, 2025, in Mentor, OH. Jack was the son of the late Henry Jacob and Berta Oschadleus Baker, was born at St. Vincent’s hospital in Erie, PA, on July 21, 1930.
Jack is survived by his wife of 65 years, Dinah Gartner Baker of Mentor, OH, his children, Jacqueline Sajewski of Mentor, Stan Baker (Alison) of Tabernash, CO, and Dianne Baker (Jay Odell) of Fredericksburg, VA, and five grandchildren (Patrick Bean, Shawn Bean, Kara Bean Salina, Abigail Odell, and Sami Baker) and two great-grandchildren. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his daughter, Julie Baker Dodson of Albuquerque, NM.
Jack grew up in Harborcreek, PA, helping his mother run a small farmstead, then earned his BS in Engineering at Penn State University. He then served stateside in the US Army, before working as an engineer in St. Mary’s and State College, PA. He moved with his young family in 1965 to Erie to work at Erie Tech, and later worked at Spectrum Control as Vice-President of Engineering until his retirement.
He made time for serving on the Peek’n Peak Ski Patrol, training English Setters for birddog trials and grouse hunting, and teaching (with mixed success) his children and grandchildren to ski, play tennis, and fish. He always supported his children and grandchildren in their interests, and loudly and proudly cheered them on in their figure skating competitions, wrestling matches, basketball games, ballet performances, soccer matches, and scouting awards. He had less fun tutoring them in their high school math, but nevertheless made valiant efforts.
Upon retirement, Jack pursued his greatest passions with a fervor. Crisscrossing the USA with Dinah and his birddog, Maggie, he fished rivers from central PA to the Pacific NW, hunted woodcock from New York to Louisiana, and cooked his catch at their campsites. He made the Colorado Rockies his second home, spending the three winter months skiing the black diamond moguls and the three summer months catching brook trout on flies (especially his own “wingless” Adams) and perfecting his serve on the tennis courts.
After mastering the moguls, Jack and Dinah moved to Mentor, where he continued to work on his serve and started his modeling career, willingly serving as his daughter’s muse in elaborate photoshoots. In his nineties, Jack took up woodcarving, cheesemaking, ukulele, pickle ball, and astrophysics.
We will miss Jack’s enthusiasm for life, deep love of the outdoors, tremendous selflessness, unending curiosity, and especially his ever-present humor.
In lieu of a service, a celebration of Jack’s life is being planned for a later date by the family.
Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of the Western Reserve, whose kind and expert care was greatly appreciated by Jack and his family.