John G. Baker

1919 - 2020

John G. Baker

John G. Baker, age 100, passed away Wednesday, June 3, 2020 at Harrison Medical Center in East Bremerton. John was born August 10, 1919 in Brownsville, Washington to parents John and Esther Baker. He graduated from Silverdale High School in 1936 and began his first job as a bicycle messenger for Western Union in Seattle at the age of 16. At 17 he started his career at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard as a messenger. He went on to work his way up at the shipyard until his retirement as Administrative Officer in 1975.

He served in the US Army from 1941 to 1945, participating in the New Guinea and Philippine liberation campaigns and was discharged from the army as a Master Sergeant. He returned home May 20, 1945 and married his sweetheart, Cherie Bright, at Manette Community Church on June 29, 1945.

John lived in Manette until his retirement, at which time he and Cherie moved to Manchester, Washington where they lived for 18 years before returning once again to Manette. They enjoyed golfing and as members of the Gold Mountain Golf Club spent many years participating in tournaments and traveling around the United States to various golfing events. They enjoyed international travel as well and made numerous trips abroad. Highlights included revisiting Australia where John had spent time before going to New Guinea during the war, an excursion to China and a family trip to Sweden and Finland to visit relatives. John was active in the Bremerton Elks and was a member since 1953.

John was one of the most welcoming and socially skilled people you could hope to meet. He was a good husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend. He had his wits and his humor and his dignity to the end.

John is preceded in death by his brother, three sisters and his son Dan. He is survived by his wife Cherie, son Tim (Susan), daughter Sheryl (Art Johnson), daughter-in-law Jane Baker, grandchildren Stephanie (Shaun Monaghan), Jeremy Baker, Jack Johnson and great-grandson Rory Monaghan. No service is pending at this time. Burial will be at Tahoma National Cemetery.