The Hadwen Family of Lancashire

BAKER Capt. Howard A. Baker, MD, US Navy-Retired, 97, Bradenton, Fl., passed away peacefully on November 15, 2011. Dr. Baker was born on September 5, 1914, in Carlton, Michigan to the late Bert & Olive Baker. He was one of nine children and the first in the Baker family to graduate from college. He attended medical school at Wayne State University, and did his internship and surgical residency at Grace Hospital in Detroit. Dr. Baker completed his Thoracic Surgery Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, followed by a Fellowship in Cardiac Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Baker joined the United States Navy in World War II. He served as the ships surgeon on the cruiser USS Baltimore CA-68 and a hospital ship off the coast of Nagasaki after the atomic bomb was dropped. He was recalled from private practice to active duty in the Korean War and later served as the Executive Officer of the US Navy Hospital Guantanamo Bay at the outset of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Dr. Baker served as the Division Surgeon for the Second Marine Division and the Force Surgeon for the Marine Corps in Vietnam, where he received the Bronze Star for valor. He retired from the Navy as Commanding Officer of the US Navy Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas. He then returned to private practice, retiring in 1994. Dr. Baker moved to Bradenton in 1998. He was predeceased by his loving wife, Dorothy M. Baker in 1997. Dr. Baker is survived by his son, [Private], two daughters, and five granddaughters. The family will receive friends on Thursday, November 17, 2011, from 6-8 p.m. at Shannon Funeral Home Westview Chapel, 5610 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton. Funeral services will be held on Friday, November 18, 2011, at 10:30 a.m. in the funeral home chapel, with committal services to follow at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell , Fl. with full military honors. The family requests in lieu of flowers that donations be made to the Wounded Warriors Project, 4899 Belfort Road, Suite 300, Jacksonville, Florida 32256.