Bruce Albert "Duke" Baker

Bruce "Duke" Albert Baker

Feb. 26, 1953 - Nov. 24, 2020

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC - Bruce "Duke" Albert Baker, 67, passed away peacefully at his home on Hilton Head Island on November 24, 2020 with his loving wife, Theresa, by his side. Even though he lived strong for over twenty years with heart failure, he succumbed finally to a short battle with pancreatic cancer.

Duke was born February 26, 1953 in Nyack, NY to Albert and Sally Baker. The oldest of three children, he grew up in South Glens Falls, NY, where he was the high school quarterback. He moved to NC for college and to play football at Davidson College. After college, he married Theresa and went to the University of Tennessee for Dental School. They resided in Knoxville, TN where he practiced General Dentistry for five years before moving to attend a residency in Orthodontics at St. Louis University. Upon graduation, they settled in Evansville, IN where Duke began his Orthodontic career. He practiced 19 years there and an additional 10 years on Hilton Head Island, SC.

Duke is survived by his wife, Theresa Baker; sons: Matt (Brooke) of Sarasota, FL, Andy of Charlotte, NC, and Chris (Brooke) of Cary, NC; mother, Sally Baker; brother, Steven (Susan) and sister, Patty Johnson. Duke will be greatly missed by his grandchildren: Reagan, Cole, Cooper, and Cruz, as well as his three nieces and nephew. He is proceeded in death by his father, Albert Baker.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, December 5, 2020 at 11:30 a.m. at St. Francis By the Sea Catholic Church, Hilton Head Island, SC.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Medical University of South Carolina Heart and Vascular Center to further research and care on heart transplants and congenital heart disease at http://giving.musc.edu. Condolences can be made online at: www.islandfuneralhome.com.