Leon Baker

Leon L. Baker, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Jan. 13, 2019, at the Lutheran Home.

He was born Jan. 13, 1934, in East Prairie, Missouri, the son of Silas Linex and Nellie Mae Gregory Baker.

Leon attended East Prairie High School and was a part of the undefeated football team of 1950. He also worked with his brothers at the infamous Johnnies Drive-In in Charleston, Missouri.

After graduating from East Prairie High School, he joined the U.S. Army and was about to be deployed, when the war ended. He served in the army from November 1954 to August 1956.

He attended Southeast Missouri State University and Rolla School of Engineering, where he completed a mechanical engineering degree.

He married LaVerne Tinkle, and together they had three children, Lisa, Lin and Lee. They settled in Lone Oak, Kentucky, where he was plant manager of CTS. During his time in Lone Oak, he built two houses completely by himself and then restored a farmhouse on a 100-acre farm with black Angus cattle, known as the 5L Angus Ranch. His family were members of Lone Oak First Baptist Church.

After LaVerne's sudden death in 1975, he devoted his entire life to his three children and had been known to get "kidsick" if he was away from them for any length of time. Leon moved his three children to Cape Girardeau to open Cape Starter and Alternator Service Inc. He built two more buildings to widen Cape Starter. He helped and taught each of his three children how to build a home and run a successful family business.

When moving to Cape Girardeau, he and his children joined First Baptist Church of Cape Girardeau. There, he met his second wife, Kay Evans Baker, and they enjoyed a few years together before her death of cancer in 1994.

After Kay's death, Leon traveled to many places. He restored Cushman scooters, became a talented crafter of wood and made each child a grandfather clock, with the clocks being purchased from his travels to Germany.

While in his 60s, he married a third time to Margaret Baker. The two of them enjoyed laughter, love and travels with his brother and sister-in-law, Jake and Martha Jane Baker. They continued a full life of adventure until their illnesses kept them close to home. She preceded him in death November 2018.

His last year of life, with all the struggles and problems, he attributed to missing their Jan. 1, 2018, helping of black-eyed peas. His family made sure he had a teaspoon of those peas this year.

Surviving Leon are his three children, Lisa (Bill) Curtis of Cape Girardeau, Leon L. "Lin" (Kelley) Baker of Jackson and Lee G. (Terri) Baker of Cape Girardeau; seven grandchildren, Emily (Mark) Schmitz, Erin (Charles P.) Ressler, Billy Curtis, Corey (Alyssa) Baker, Clayton (Emily) Baker, Aly Baker and Robert Flannery; and six great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, four brothers, a sister, three spouses and two great-grandsons.

Leon's children would like to thank his personal caregivers, the Lutheran Home, Units 400 and 500 personnel and Southeast Hospice.

Friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. today at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

There will be a private graveside service Wednesday at Mount Kenton Cemetery in Paducah, Kentucky, with the Rev. Mark Anderson officiating. There will be graveside military rites.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Lutheran Home or Southeast Hospice.

Online condolences may be made at www.fordandsonsfuneralhome.com.