John F. Baker

John F. Baker, otherwise known as Johnny Babe, Mr. Perfect, Handsome Uncle John, Papa, and Dad, passed away peacefully surrounded by his four loving children on Thursday, May 16, 2024, at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, following a brief illness. He was 91 years young.

From start to finish, John was a lover of life, who had a unique and unyielding capacity to find joy in just about anything that came his way. He was born on January 28, 1933, in Boston, Massachusetts to the late Daniel and Julia (Stanton) Baker. He was the last of six children, and the darling of his mother and two sisters, Mary and Teresa. Growing up, he was a playful troublemaker on the streets of Jamaica Plain, not bothered by the frugality required by the Second Great War, and he cherished long walks with his friends to Fenway Park to see his beloved Red Sox from the nickel seats.

He was a proud 1950 graduate of St. Mary’s High School in Brookline, and he regaled his children with its fight song throughout his life. He attended Suffolk University in Boston and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration in 1954. Upon graduation, he was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War, following the footsteps of his brother Jimmy, a veteran of the European theater in World War II. During his military service, John served as an enlisted soldier at the Presidio in San Francisco, California, where he did not see much combat but most definitely had fun. With particularly fond memories of Tommy’s Joynt on Geary Boulevard, like Tony Bennett, he left his heart in San Francisco when he returned home in 1956.

Back in Boston, John attended the New England School of Law, and upon receiving his Juris Doctor degree, he joined a small private law practice in Watertown. In the years that followed, he was a happy bachelor, enjoying season tickets to the Celtics and Bruins and summers on Cape Cod with a raucous group of friends who called themselves the Hibernians. Later, he would tell hilarious stories of their adventures, like the time he and his not-so-happy date climbed out of a bathroom window to flee as the police broke up a party.

Then, in the summer of 1968 in Harwich, he met the love of his life, Helen. Following a year-long courtship, they married at St. Theresa’s Church in West Roxbury on December 27, 1969, after which the couple moved to Roslindale to begin their life together and start a family. During these years, John joined the Massachusetts Department of Labor as an inspector, where he began a long and honorable career protecting the rights of workers throughout the Commonwealth. In addition, he launched a quixotic campaign for State Representative and while he didn’t win, he never lost his civic optimism.

In the fall of 1972, John and Helen welcomed their first child, Michael, with Teresa quickly following. In 1974, they moved to Needham, where they would spend the rest of their lives, and completed their family with the births of Mary and James. An active and loving father, he danced with his children on the kitchen table, famously raced lobsters on the floor before convincing his kids their imminent demise would be painless, cheered from the sidelines at countless sporting events, and served as an adult leader for boy and girl scouting activities from summer camps to cookie sales to the pinewood derby. In those years, he never lost his joy for fatherhood, even as he took on a second job to provide for his family, sorting checks at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston several nights a week.

Together with his wife, John instilled in his children the values of faith, family, education, and hard work, and he was incredibly proud of their accomplishments: Mike, a dedicated father and decorated U.S. Army colonel; Teresa, a doctor of physical therapy; Mary, a professor of media production; and Jim, a biotechnology business executive. Along each step of their journeys into adulthood, he was there with encouragement and support.

In the late 1980s, Helen started to suffer from a prolonged illness, and John gradually became a caregiver, ultimately retiring from the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General in 2002 to be with her full-time. Despite tremendous hardship, particularly toward the end of Helen’s life, their love for each other deepened in the years before her passing in 2005. In his later years, John’s greatest joys were his grandchildren, Sean, Ruth, James, and Julia, who endlessly entertained him with their humor, athleticism, artistic talent, and boundless love.

A member of the YMCA of Greater Boston for more than a half century, John was an athlete, who frequented the handball court two nights a week for decades and routinely ran the Charles River YMCA 4th of July 5K Road Race in Needham. He loved music, with a particular affinity for jazz including Erroll Garner’s “Misty” and pretty much anything from his “girlfriend” Diana Krall, as well as senior discount tickets at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He often remarked that he admired his brother Danny’s handiness, but unfortunately he did not share that gene and the misshapen hedges in his front yard were an easy landmark for visitors. While he rarely strayed far from home, he was an adventurer at heart, and he talked his children into taking him to Red Sox spring training in Fort Myers, two Thanksgivings in New York City, the racetrack in Saratoga, the baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown, and a Red Sox-Yankees exhibition game in London. He was a lifelong Boston sports fan, and per his request he’ll be buried with a commemorative Red Sox pennant from the 2004 World Series. And he was a man of God who regularly attended mass and prayed for his wife and kids at St. Bartholomew’s Church in Needham for 50 years.

John was predeceased by his beloved wife Helen M. (McGonagle) Baker, sisters Teresa (Baker) Richards and Sister Mary Baker, and brothers Daniel Baker, James Baker, and Michael Baker, who died as an infant but was never far from his thoughts. His presence and love of life will be deeply missed by his children, COL Mike Baker and his wife Jodilyn Baker of Hopkinton, Teresa Baker of Needham, Mary Baker of Groton, and Jim Baker and his husband Sean Marker of Boston; his grandchildren Sean Baker, Ruth Baker, James Baker, and Julia Baker of Hopkinton; and countless extended family members.

John’s family extends their deepest gratitude to Melisa Gega, the faithful staff at Edelweiss Village in West Roxbury, and the cadre of healthcare providers whose diligent and thoughtful care enabled John to live a happy and joyful life following a debilitating stroke in early 2021.

Family and friends are kindly invited to gather for John’s visitation on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Eaton Funeral Home at 1351 Highland Avenue in Needham. A mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at St. Bartholomew’s Church at 1180 Greendale Avenue in Needham at 10:30 am on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Interment will follow at St. Mary’s Cemetery at 1 Wellesley Avenue in Needham. In addition, upon conclusion of the services, family and friends are welcome to celebrate John’s life at Waterfords Restaurant and Pub at 2 Bridge Street in Dedham.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in John’s name to the YMCA of Greater Boston, whose youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility programs serve and strengthen family and community.

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