William F. "Pete" Baker

1939 - 2017

Lubbock - William F. (Pete) Baker died Wednesday, December 20, 2017, at the age of 78. All family and friends are welcome at a gathering at the Texas Tech McKenzie-Merket Alumni Center, 2521 17th Street, from 5 pm to 7 pm, Thursday, January 4, 2018. A memorial service will be held at 11 am, Friday, January 5, 2018, at Lakeridge United Methodist Church, 4701 82nd Street, Lubbock, TX. The Reverends Bill Couch and Lyndol Loyd will officiate.

The journey through Pete's life began in the small town of Anson, Texas, with a yard full of sheep and summers filled with rounding up cattle and plowing ground. It was plowing accompanied by wind, dust and sun which later drove Pete to law school.

When the time came for college, Pete's father told him he could go to the college of his choice. He chose Texas Tech and frequently told friends he saw more people on campus his first day at Tech Tech than he had ever seen in his life. He became involved in many activities and was voted Mr. Texas Tech his senior year. It was also his senior year that he met his future wife, Suzanne (Suzie) Alderson on a blind date.

Pete went to law school at Southern Methodist University. His career as a lawyer began in Corpus Christi, continued in Abilene, and concluded in Lubbock. He was somehow able to take on the biggest crisis situations and resolve them in common sense ways. He generously gave his time freely to friends and family and to others in need of legal aid. He passed his sense of the importance of ethics in business to his two children and to others.

His two sons, Gene and Greg, are in a special category - the icing on the cake. The rich lives of his boys spilled into his life and made his life richer. Just as Pete and his dad had raised horses together, so did Pete and Gene raise and compete with bucking bulls. Greg's career took him around the world and Pete and Suzie followed along when they could. Greg and his family were very generous and encouraged his parents to visit where they resided.

The grandchildren added many unexpected dimensions to Pete's life. They sang opera, killed rattle snakes, ran down road runners, played football and basketball, and so on. Thank you Colt, Cade, Jeffrey and Allison for those eye-opening experiences and for being such treasures to your grandfather. And thank you to the wonderful daughters-in-law, Paige and Donna.

In his church, Pete found a home and participated in activities from washing dishes to raising money for African missions. He also cared about his community, contributing in areas such as Leadership Member of the Boy Scouts, Director of the Central Tax Authority of Taylor County, and as a Founding Director of Steamboat Mountain Water Supply Corporation. He was a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, a Director of the Texas Association of Bank Councils, and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Pete and Suzie celebrated their fifty-sixth wedding anniversary the week Pete died. After all those years they were still having fun together.

Pete was preceded in death by his parents William Dennis and Helen Baker, his parents-in-law Gene and Linda Alderson, and brother-in-law Herman Propst. Survivors include his wife Suzanne Alderson Baker, his two sons, Gene Baker and wife Paige of Anson, TX and Greg Baker and wife Donna of Dallas, TX, and four grandchildren, Colt and Cade Baker of Anson, TX and Jeffrey and Allison Baker of Dallas, TX. Also surviving are Pete's sister Helen Lou Propst of Anson, TX, niece Suzanne Herbst and husband John of Austin, TX and nephew Karl Propst and wife Laura of Plano, TX, sister-in-law Sandra Ulich and nephew Steven Ulich of Tucson, AZ and sister-in-law Lynn McGoldrick and husband Bob of Austin, TX and nieces Suzanne McMinn and husband Brian of Houston, TX and Caroline Gorman and husband Scott of San Antonio, TX. Pete was also close to his aunt Pat Alderson and cousins from the Jack Alderson family and Orville Alderson family.

The family would like to thank the doctors, nurses, and caregivers who cared for Pete during his illness. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Hospice of Lubbock (3702 21st St, Lubbock, TX 79410), Lakeridge United Methodist Church Legacy Fund (4701 82nd Street, Lubbock, TX 79409), or to a charity of your choice.

Arrangements are under the direction of Resthaven Funeral Home & Memorial Park, Lubbock, TX.

Online condolences may be offered on our website at www.resthavenfuneralhome.com