Mr Thomas Dale Baker

October 12, 1938 - November 20, 2021

Thomas Dale Baker was born on October 12, 1938 in Prairie Home, MO, the third son of four to William Joseph Baker and Ida Myrtle Moore. He attended high school in Fayette, MO where he played baseball and basketball, graduating in 1956. Upon graduating, he joined the US Air Force, serving in Panama as Security Police. He played baseball on the base team where he had the opportunity to play against Orlando Zapeta’s team during their off-season; something he always fondly remembered. After his military service, he began his career with F.W. Woolworth where he worked for the next 25 years, starting in Columbia, MO and transferring to various states as he was promoted and rising to senior level management. He married Linda Kay Jones on January 30, 1965 in Houston, TX. They went on to have three children, a boy and two girls. They would remain happily married for the next 56 years and 10 months. They moved to six different states as Tom was promoted, ending at the F.W. Woolworth on Canal St. in New Orleans, LA from where he retired in 1988. They then bought a motor home and began traveling; visiting all 50 states, as well as Europe, Canada, Mexico, and many countries in Central and South America over the years. His greatest joys in life were worshipping God, cooking, and landscaping his homes. He is preceded in death by his parents, William Joseph and Ida Myrtle Baker; his oldest brother Don Lee Baker; and his first grandchild, Andrew Gregory Baker. He is survived by his wife, Linda; his children, Gregory Ray, Julie Ida of Bogalusa, and Sherry Lyneanne of Bogalusa; grandchildren, Kaylie Tina and Joey Arguelles, Tiffany Lynne Alfonso, Brianna Spring Alfonso, all of Bogalusa; and Tobias Andrew Baker, of California; as well as three great-grandchildren, Mason, Aubree, and Kamri as well as expecting a fourth, Aveah. He is also survived by his brothers, Billy Joe Baker of New Bloomfield, MO, and Charles Wayne and Jenny Baker of Columbia, MO. Tom loved his Savior and Lord Jesus Christ and his wife, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. His final words were he was “ready to meet his Jesus.”