Jack William Baber

Beloved husband, father, step-father, grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle, farmer and friend, Jack
William Baber, passed away peacefully in his home on Sunday, May 11, 2025, with his loving wife, Audra, by his side.

Jack was born September 26, 1933 in Colusa, CA. He was raised in Maxwell, CA, on his grandfathers rice ranch, where his father raised sheep and later grew clover seed. Jack graduated from Maxwell High School where he played baseball and football. He went on to UC Davis to study engineering and play on the water polo team.

At 19, he joined the Air Force during the Korean War. He was assigned to be the flight engineer to Major General Daniel C. Doubleday, head of Airwaves and Air Communications for all of Europe and North Africa. He was tasked with restoring and improving world communications after World War II. He was based in Germany. Jack spent over three years traveling throughout the continents, flying over 4,800 hours.

He made friends wherever he went. He often reflected on these years as formative, adventurous, and fast-paced, the best and worst of times. He returned home to farm rice in the Butte Sink of the Northern Sacramento Valley, CA. In the Summer of '58, he married Judy Sherer, his loving wife of 51 years. Together they had a son, Jack Jr., whom they called Jon.

Throughout the next 53 years, Jack was happy farming rice, bailing straw, co-building and operating the Sutter Rice Dryer, operating Sierra Mountain Mills Lumber Company with a partner and designing a rice cake machine for "Sun Cakes". He also travelled to China twice as an ambassador of rice farming.

Jack served on several boards. His longest stint was 49 years on the Reclamation District 1004 board, serving as chairman for 34 of those years. He contributed often and generously to community causes and organizations with both labor and funds. He was a member of the National Parks Foundation.

In the summer of 2010, Jack, having lost his wife, Judy, to complications of diabetes, married Audra Anderson Herkert, also of Colusa, CA. They traveled across Europe where Jack could revisit his Air Force days. They toured Machu Picchu and the Galapagos with UC Davis and fished in New Zealand, Alaska, and the Florida Keys.

With their traveling days over, they settled part of each year in Bigfork, MT. It reminded Jack strongly of the alpine and water rich landscape of Bavaria. Living on the bank of the Swan River as it feeds Flathead Lake, this was Jack's happy place. He and Audra enjoyed hosting friends and family who came to join them in the peace and beauty of Northwest Montana.

Jack was a positive minded person whose heart was full of good will. He worked hard, took time to enjoy life with his families and was an avid duck hunter and fisherman. Ever an athlete, he water and snow skied and golfed into his seventies. He was a generous, loving man, whose priority was to take care of his families. He succeeded in all endeavors, had fun in all adventures and easily conducted himself as a gentleman throughout. He will forever be loved and missed as a one-of-a-kind wonderful man.

He is survived by his wife, Audra; step-son; Hans Herkert, of Colusa, CA, with wife, Jillian, and children, Harper and Ethan; step-daughter, Hannah Lewis, of Sammamish, WA, with husband, Justin; granddaughters, Adelaide Massetani of Truckee, CA, with husband, Nic, and great-grandson, Jack; and Hannah Baber, of Nashville, TN. He is also survived by his older sister, Shirley Baber Jacoubowsky, of Redwood City, CA, and her children, Mike, Steve, and Tom; and niece, Susy. Preceding Jack in death were his wife, Judy; and
son, Jon.

Memorial contributions would please Jack if they were made to the charity of your choice.