Ralph Baker

Ralph Kenyon Baker, 83, of Delta died Monday, Feb. 25, 2008, at Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau.

He was born in Lake City, Ark., April 3, 1924, to the late Grover and Edith Speer Baker.

He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a radioman.

Baker was an inspector for General Motors in St. Louis 27 years.

On Nov. 26, 1946, he married Frankie Jo Vaughn. She preceded him in death May 17, 1987. He married Glenda Burnett Sept. 15, 1990.

Ralph was a member of Randles Baptist Church, Whitewater Masonic Lodge 417 and Christian Motorcycle Association in Cape Girardeau. He was a member of several gospel groups, starting when he was a boy singing in church. He was a member of United Auto Workers in Poplar Bluff. He was a former member of Collinsville Masonic Lodge 712.

Survivors include his wife, Glenda Burnett of Delta; two sons, Robert (Eva) Baker of Troy, Ill., Joe (Tina) Baker of Fairview Heights, Ill.; two daughters, Janet (Thomas) Smith of Edwardsville, Ill., Paula Rhodes and fiance Brian Brocker of Gillette, Wyo.; five stepsons, Jerry (Dixie) Burnett of Oak Ridge, Bob (Rosalie) Burnett of Jackson, Alan (Janet) Burnett of Benton, Mo., Tom (Shelley) Burnett of Chaffee, Mo., Kenny (Sandy) Burnett of Delta; a stepdaughter, Paulette Burnett of El Reno, Okla.; a brother, Vester Baker of Spring Valley, Calif.; three sisters, Violet Hollis of West Memphis, Ark., Vivian Baker of Paragould, Ark., Virginia Loewen of Mobile, Ala.; 20 grandchildren; 26 great-grandchildren; and nine great-great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a stepson, Randy "Red" Burnett; two brothers and two sisters.

Friends may call after 4 p.m. today at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee.

The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at the chapel, with the Rev. Charles Kohlbaker officiating and Rick Cobb assisting. Burial will be in Forest Hills Memorial Gardens near Morley, Mo., with full military honors.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to Missouri Veterans Home Wing A, or to Shriners Hospital in St. Louis.