Obituary of Stephen Darrell Baker

On Wednesday, February 13, 2019, Steve Darrell Baker passed away at the age of 68, at home in Belfair, following a battle with pancreatic cancer. He leaves behind 2 daughters, Sylvia Keller and Heather Penning; his father, Darrell Baker; his mother, Margaret Ragan; his sisters Diane Sparrow, Dena Radosevic, Sheryl Thompson, Brenda Lucia, Karen Ellis; grandchildren Mckenna, Megan, Shaun and Shayden Keller; Aly, Sofia, Diego and Isabella Penning; niece Madeline Radosevic, nephew Liam Radosevic, other nieces and nephews, and many friends. Steve was born on November 16, 1950 in Portland, OR to Darrell Baker and Margaret Ragan. He later lived in Maryland, Washington, Hawaii, Guam, & California. He was married and divorced twice. In his early years, Steve loved playing baseball. He was on his high school team and dreamed of playing professionally. While an injury prevented his dreams from being realized, he continued to play coed recreational baseball all through adulthood, and enjoyed watching baseball and football on television. In 1971 he was drafted into the Army, where he served in Military Intelligence as a pay disbursement specialist. The army sent him to Washington state, where his daughter Heather was born in 1975. His second daughter Sylvia was also born in Washington in 1979. In 1980 he decided to use his GI bill and go back to college, and what better location than beautiful Hawaii. He got his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from University of Hawaii, and remained in Hawaii for the next 15 years. While in Hawaii, he used his degree in Social Work to help others. His mom, sister, and daughters all spent time with him in beautiful Hawaii, and have many fond memories of time spent with him there. His next adventure began when he took a job for the department of veteran’s affairs, where he worked in Guam, San Francisco, Portland and Maryland. In 2006 he went back to Maryland to help his mother upon the death of her husband. He continued his tradition of helping others, and did many remarkable things with his veterans, such as taking them on outings to museums and major league baseball games at his own expense He remained in Maryland until he retired in July of 2018. Around that time he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and moved in with his daughter Sylvia in Washington. To know Steve was to love him. With his easy going nature, he was a great friend to all who knew him. He loved people, animals, and his long hair! He did such important work with veterans and they all loved him as well! He had a huge heart and was a great listener, a servant leader, selfless, kind, and caring. He loved his grandchildren and enjoyed visiting them in Texas and Washington. He dreamed of retiring and spending more time with his loved ones, and got to spend his last 6 months doing just that. In his final days, he recommitted his life to Jesus and his entire family looks forward to a joyous reunion with him in Heaven. A funeral service will be held on Friday, February 22, 2019 at 12:30 pm at WiIlamette National Cemetery in Portland, Oregon. Flowers or donations may be sent to The Fisher House Puget Sound (https://www.fisherhousevaps.org/donation-form.html). They provided a beautiful, free place for Sylvia to stay while Steve was in the VA hospital which was a blessing for both Steve and Sylvia.