LOVETT BAKER

LOVETT BAKER, a fourth generation Houstonian and an accomplished banker, died peacefully with his family at his side on Sunday, February 7, 2010 of cancer at the age of 79. Lovett was born on September 21, 1930 in Houston, Texas to Adelaide and Walter Browne Baker. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire in 1948 and from Princeton University with a B.A. in Economics in 1952. He also was a graduate of the American Institute of Banking in 1956 and of the first class of Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University in 1960. Lovett was devoted to his family, his banking career, the Houston community, and his country. He served in the United States Navy aboard the destroyer, U.S.S. Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., and retired as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve.His banking career spanned five decades. He was a founder of five banks, including Capital National Bank (President and CEO) in Houston, Capital National Corporation (President of the first one-bank holding company in Texas), and Bank for Investment & Credit in Berne, Switzerland. He served as Organizer, President and CEO of Federated Capital Corporation, a multi-bank holding company in Texas; Chairman and CEO of Union Bank of Houston; President and CEO of BancUnited, a division of United Savings Association in Houston; and Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President of Compass Bank in Houston. Lovett also was President of First National Bank in Bandera, Texas, and an Advisory Group Member to Federal Reserve Board Governor John Sheehan. He served on many American Bankers Association committees, including as Regional Chairman of the Committee for Development of Minority-Owned Banks, and Minority Business Enterprise & Employment. Lovett never truly retired, continuing to be active in business as a banking consultant and as an adjunct professor at the Jesse Jones Graduate School of Administration at Rice University. One of Lovett's greatest joys was teaching, and he especially loved doing so at Rice given his family's history there.Lovett was committed to the Houston community, serving in many leadership positions, as well as on several national organizations. He was an active member of the Young Presidents Organization, the Chief Executives Organization, World Business Council, the Houston Downtown Rotary Club, and Kiwanis Club. He was a Trustee of The Fay School, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, and the Museum of Fine Arts. He also served on the Harris County March of Dimes (Chair); Houston Arboretum (President); Neighborhood Centers Inc.; The Kinkaid School (Endowment Trustee); United Fund, Special Gifts Division, Harris County (Chair); Houston Chamber of Commerce "Operation Sparkle" (Chair); Institute of Opthalmology, Houston (President); Boy Scouts of America, Sam Houston Area Council (Director); New Mexico Outward Bound (Director); and the Houston Botanical Society (President).His alma maters were very dear to him and he dedicated a great deal of time to mentoring young people who were interested in attending Phillips Exeter Academy and Princeton University. He served as an Alumni Trustee of Exeter, as President of the National Alumni Association, and as a Member of Founders Day and the John Phillips Award Nominating Committee. He also served as President of the Princeton Alumni Association in Houston, Chairman of the "Princeton in the Southwest" Regional Conference, and as a Member of the Houston Schools Committee. Lovett was a longtime active member of St. Martins Episcopal Church, serving as a Vestryman and as Treasurer.Lovett loved the outdoors - fishing, hunting, and working in his garden. There were few things that he enjoyed more than watching the sunrise while afield bird hunting in Southeast Texas and fishing on Galveston Bay. He and Joanne were avid travelers. Lovett's involvement in many organizations afforded them extraordinary travel opportunities and life experiences across six continents. He was a member of the Houston Country Club, the Bayou Club of Houston, the Tejas Club,Texas Corinthian Yacht Club, and Allegro.He is survived by his loving family: Joanne, his wife of 55 years; daughter Melissa Baker Jones and her husband Scott Jones; son Lovett (Chip) Baker, Jr. and his wife Georgia; daughter Caroline Baker Hurley and her husband Robert Bruce Hurley, Jr.; and six grandchildren, Brian Patrick Jones, Courtney Bingham Jones, Lovett Baker, III, Grace Elizabeth Hurley, Emma Brayton Hurley, and Robert Bruce Hurley, III; his sister-in-law Anne Baker Horton; and his nephews, W. Browne Baker, III, Jeffrey W. Baker, Mark A. Baker, Clifford Vickery, and Alexander L. Vickery; many first cousins: James A. Baker, III, Eliza Lovett Randall, Preston Moore, Jr., Mary Hale Lovett McLean, Bonner Means Baker, James H. Moore, Malcolm G. Baker, Jr., Stewart A. Baker, H. Malcolm Lovett, Jr., Edgar O. Lovett, II, Graeme M. Marston, and Virginia M. Watt. Pallbearers are James A. Baker, III, Stewart A. Baker, Malcolm G. Baker, Jr., Preston Moore, Jr., H. Malcolm Lovett, Jr., Edgar O. Lovett, II, Robert A. Johnston, Jr., Bruce W. Johnson, George S. Heyer, W. Merrill Glasgow, Wallace S. Wilson, William K. Bruce, J. Philip Wandel, Marvin V. (Pete) Cluett, S. Field Emerson, William R. Lloyd, Jr., F. Carrington Weems, Robert L. Dabney, Jr., William R. Lummis, Roger S. Horchow, and Jack T. Dulworth.A celebration of Lovett Baker's life is to be conducted at 1 oclock in the afternoon on Thursday, the 11th of February at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, 717 Sage Road in Houston, Texas. The family wishes to thank Dr. Ann Radcliffe and her nurse Shirley Parrott; Dr. Jade Homsi, his team and the other caregivers at The University of Texas M D Anderson Cancer Center; and Dr. Thuy Hanh Thi Trinh and the caregivers at Houston Hospice for their loving care and support. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Lovett's memory with gratitude to one of the charitable organizations mentioned above.Visitation will be at Geo. H. Lewis & Sons at 1010 Bering Drive on Wednesday, the 10th of February, from 5 until 7 oclock in the evening.