Devoted Iowa Hawkeye football fan

Willis D. Baker, 74, of Red Oak, Iowa, died Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011, at the Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Funeral services were Monday, Oct. 17, at Sellergren-Lindell-DeMarce Funeral Home in Red Oak. Interment was in the Villisca (Iowa) Cemetery, with Masonic services held at the graveside.

Willis Dean Baker was born Sept. 19, 1937, in Page County, Iowa, to Samuel L. and Jessie I. (Fail) Baker.

He lived in the Page and Montgomery counties area, graduating with the Villisca High School Class of 1956.

He entered the Iowa Army National Guard, Red Bull Division, Co "C" 2nd Bn 168th Infantry of Villisca on Dec. 15, 1954. He was activated to federal service during the Cuban Missile Crisis and was discharged on July 1, 1964.

On Oct. 28, 1956, he married Regina L. "Jean" Ellis in Villisca.

For 21 years, he worked as a meat cutter in Nodaway, Iowa, for Raymond Spring and Veryl Ellis and Villisca Locker and HVAC for Eldon Mikesell. Later, he worked for Oakland Packinghouse. In 1984, he began an 18-year career with Romech in Red Oak as maintenance supervisor, retiring in 2002.

He loved baseball and played for the Nodaway town team along with helping coach Little League. He was a member of the Villisca Advent Christian Church, Iroquois #590 Masonic Lodge of Nodaway, Southwest Iowa Senior Golf Association and was a past member of the Nodaway Volunteer Fire Department.

He was a devoted Iowa Hawkeye and Dallas Cowboys football fan. In his spare time, he enjoyed golfing, fishing, hunting, shooting and playing the lottery. He was an excellent woodworker and loved refinishing furniture. He was an avid reader of Western books and was always keeping up on current events. He had a love affair, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for D & L, Romech and its employees and products up until his passing.

He is survived by his wife, Jean Baker, of Red Oak; sons and daughters-in-law, Jerry and Rhonda Baker of Red Oak, Mike and Michelle Baker of Arlington, and Brad Baker, also of Red Oak; four grandchildren: Zoey and Macy Baker, Tyler Baker and wife, Sara, and Trey Baker; sisters: Evelyn Salway of Villisca, and Sharon Farlin of Emerson, Iowa; nieces and nephews, along with other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers: Albert and Don; sister, Dorothy; and other infant siblings.

A memorial is being established in his name.