Champ Baker
Champion Lee Baker, Sr., known as Champ Leroy Baker, Sr. (March 9, 1919 – December 23, 1985),[1][2] was a civic figure in Alexandria, Louisiana.
| Champion Lee "Champ Leroy" Baker, Sr.
(Civic figure in Alexandria, Louisiana) | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 9, 1919 Boyce, Rapides Parish Louisiana |
| Died | December 23, 1985 (aged 66) Alexandria, Louisiana Resting place: |
| Political Party | Democrat |
| Spouse | Astrid Hile Baker Three children: |
| Religion | United Methodist |
Background
One of eight children of Richard Baker (1876-1936), a painter originally from Holland, Michigan, and the former Maud LaDell Johnson (1884-1981),[3] Baker was born in the small town of Boyce in northern Rapides Parish, where his mother had also been born. His official first name "Champion" was that of his maternal grandfather, Champion Pennington Johnson (1849-1996), a native of Harmony, North Carolina., whom Baker never knew. He used the name "Champ Leroy Baker"; hence, the "Champ" is derived from "Champion".
Baker attended Bolton High School in Alexandria. In 1940, he enlisted for military service and became a captain in the United States Army during World War II. He met his wife, the former Astrid Hile (December 17, 1920 – August 18, 2010), a native of , the capital and largest city of the Baltic Sea state of Estonia. Mrs. Baker was the younger of two daughters Gustave Hile, originally Hiielje (1888-1954) and the former Pauline Elisabeth Lindstrom, originally Linzmann (1894-1972)[4] She was an Army nurse for the Fourth Service Command at Finney General Hospital in Thomasville, Georgia.[5]Upon his return to civilian life, Baker became a steadfast advocate for veterans' causes. For thirty years, Mrs. Baker was a caseworker for the Louisiana state government. The Bakers had three children, Susanne Carol Nall (born July 21, 1944) and husband Malcolm Howell Nall (born November 4, 1948) of Woodworth, south of Alexandria; Dr. Champ Baker, Jr. (born August 3, 1946), an orthopedic and sports medical doctor in Columbus, Georgia,[6] who is married to the former Sue Anne Owens (born December 30, 1945), and Russell King Baker (born February 19, 1949), and spouse, the former Kathryn "Kathie" Pearce (born June 22, 1959), of Lorena in McLennan County, south of Waco, Texas. One of their ten grandchildren is Dr. Champ (Lee) Baker, III (born January 21, 1976), is a sports doctor affiliated with the Hughston Clinic in Columbus, Georgia.[5].
Career
Baker was the long-term director of the Kisatchie-Delta Regional Planning & Development District at 3514 Parliament Drive in Alexandria, a quasi-government multi-purpose body which among other functions prepares land-use guidelines and distributes law enforcement grants for eight Central Louisiana parishes.[7]
In 1977, Baker, a Democrat, ran for mayor of Alexandria in the first election under the mayor-council charter, which replaced the former commission city government. He ran third, but outgoing Mayor John K. Snyder ran strongly enough to enter a runoff contest with Carroll Edwin Lanier (1926-2012), who from 1969 to 1973 was the finance and utilities commissioner under the previous government. In this same election cycle, W. A. "Dub" Carruth, a prominent house and apartment developer, won an at-large seat on the new Alexandria City Council.[8] A native of Ashley County, Arkansas, Lanier defeated Snyder, 68-32 percent. Five years later, Snyder turned the tables on Lanier to gain a second non-consecutive term as mayor in 1982. Then in 1986, Snyder was unseated by long-term mayor Edward Gordon "Ned" Randolph, Jr. (1942-2016). In addition to Baker, other losing candidates in the 1977 race were Dr. Judith Ward-Steinman Karst, the then wife of former Mayor Charles Edward Karst (1931-1992),outgoing Finance and Utilities Commissioner Arnold Jack Rosenthal (1923-2010), and former state Representative Larry Parker.(1922-1996).[9]
Baker subsequently joined the second Snyder administration as the utilities director, in which capacity he had warned that the city needed greater sources of energy to power the municipal-owen electric power system. Baker said that he remains "skittish" in regard to the coal-fired plant near his native Boyce owned by the Pineville-based Central Louisiana Electric Company, which Baker claimed is "unreliable". Snyder announced that the city would by March 1984 have a suitable three-year contract with a company in Colorado.[10]
Baker died of a stroke at the age of sixty-six at Rapides Regional Medical Center in Alexandria.[1] He and his wife are interred at Alexandria Memorial Gardens.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Champ Leroy Baker, Sr.. Geni.com. Retrieved on July 14, 2018.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Capt. Champion Lee "Champ" Baker, Sr.. Old.findagrave.com. Retrieved on July 14, 2018.
- ↑ . Geni.com. Retrieved on July 14, 2018.
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{{cite web |url = |title = |accessdate = |accessdaymonth = |accessmonthday = |accessyear = |author = |last = |first = |authorlink = |coauthors = |date = |year = |month = |format = |work = |publisher = |pages = |language = |doi = |archiveurl = |archivedate = |quote = }} - ↑ Pauline Elisabeth Hile. Geni.com. Retrieved on July 14, 2018.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Astrid Hile Baker. Old.findagrave.com. Retrieved on July 14, 2018.
- ↑ Dr. Champ Baker, Jr. - Healthgrades. Healthgrades.com. Retrieved on July 14, 2018.
- ↑ New Federal Aid Explained to Law Enforcement Heads. The Alexandria Town Talk (January 30, 1969). Retrieved on July 14, 2018.
- ↑ W. A. "Dub" Carruth obituary. The Alexandria Town Talk (July 13, 2018). Retrieved on July 14, 2018.
- ↑ Cynthia D. Jardon (December 5, 2012). Former Alexandria Mayor Carroll Lanier dies at 86. The Alexandria Town Talk. Retrieved on July 14, 2018.
- ↑ Jim Liggett (January 13, 1984). Snyder: Cheaper Gas on the Way. The Alexandria Town Talk. Retrieved on July 14, 2018.