Walter Baker

Walter A. Baker 73 of Glasgow, KY died Monday, May 24, 2010 at his home. He was born in Columbia, KY the son of the late Herschel T. and Mattie Barger Baker. Walter graduated from Adair Co. High School in 1954, Harvard College, A.B. Magna Cum Laude in 1958, Phi Beta Kappa, Harvard Law School in 1961 and Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at Pikeville College in 2006. He served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, Kentucky Air Natl. Guard rising to the rank of Lt. Colonel and served as Judge Advocate for the KY Air National Guard from 1961 to 1981. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed Baker Assistant General Counsel for International Affairs in the U.S. Dept. of Defense, a position he held until 1983. He had a very distinguished career in public offices where he had received many awards and honors for his service. Baker served as State Representative, 23rd House District, 1968-1971; State Senator, 9th Senatorial District 1972-1981 and 1989-1996, and Justice, Kentucky Supreme Court in 1996. He also participated on numerous state and national legislative committees including being selected by the U.S. Information Agency to advise oblast dumas in Nizhni Novgorod and Tomsk, Russia on legislative process and constitution- making in 1995 and to address the economic conference in Poland in 1997. He was also very active in many state and local organizations including the Glasgow Rotary Club, Barren Co. Bar Association, Bd. Member of the Mary Wood Weldon Memorial Library and was a member and past president of the Kentucky Historical Society. Walter was a member of St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Glasgow and Vice Chancellor, Protestant Episcopal Diocese of KY from 2005 until present. He is survived by his wife, Jane S. Helm Baker; son Thomas H. Baker and wife Dawn Danielle of Austin, TX; daughter Ann Tate Baker Phillips and husband Rip of Louisville; a granddaughter Baker Elizabeth Phillips; a brother James T. Baker and wife Phyllis of Richmond, KY, several nieces, nephews and cousins and his beloved springer spaniel Apollo Jr. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a brother Tyler A. Baker. A Memorial Service will be 11:00 AM central time, Saturday, May 29, 2010 at the First Christian Church in Glasgow, KY. Inurnment will be in the Glasgow Municipal Cemetery. Visitation will be Friday from 2:00pm until 8:00pm central time at the A. F. Crow & Son Funeral Home in Glasgow, KY. Alternate expressions of sympathy may take the form of memorial contributions to the Walter A. Baker Memorial Fund, c/o South Central Bank, 208 S. Broadway, Glasgow, KY 42141.