Donald Baker Obituary

Donald (Don) Baker of Durango, CO was born in Greeley, CO on April 7, 1936 to Nellie and Adrian Baker. Don attended and graduated from Durango High School class of '54. After a year at Colorado University, he attended Naval Flight School and was commissioned as an ensign in 1957. Don met the former miss Kay Holt also of Durango and they married on June 6, 1962. They had three sons, Todd, Brett, and Grant, and a wonderful marriage that spanned over six decades. Don had a long and distinguished career as an officer in the United States Navy starting as a pilot flying the F-6 "Skyray", the F-8 "Crusader" and finally the F-4 "Phantom". During his time as a fighter pilot, Don was a flight instructor twice, completed two combat deployments aboard the USS Oriskany and the USS Ticonderoga, was the Executive Officer and then Commanding Officer of the famed VF-41 "Black Aces", and he received multiple awards including the Distinguished Flying Cross, 9 Air Medals, and the Purple Heart. Following Don's flying career, he was shipboard as the Executive Officer and Air Operations Officer of the USS America, the Commanding Officer of the USS Milwaukee and then the Commanding Officer of the eleven ship fleet COMSERVRON 4. Don also spent time at the US Naval War College in Rhode Island (where he was a student and staff member at the center for War Gaming and where he received his Bachelor's Degree in Political Science), the Pentagon, and ended his career at the U.S. Atlantic Fleet's headquarters CINCLANTFLT in Norfolk, Virginia. Don retired as a Captain 06 with the titles of Commodore and J3. Following his naval retirement, Don and Kay moved home to Durango and Vallecito Reservoir where Don was active in both communities through business and through his involvement with Kiwanis International and Baker Distributing. Don and Kay moved to Williamsburg, Virginia late in their lives to be closer to their first two grandchildren and they moved back to their hometown of Durango this Spring where they felt at home and close to family. Don Baker married the girl of his dreams and lived the career of his dreams. Don passed peacefully in his sleep while recuperating from complications due to Congestive Heart Failure.

Don is survived by his wife Kay, sons Todd, Brett, and Grant and their wives, Mamie, Melvie, and Emma, and grandchildren Brinkley, Reagan, Zane, Zoey, and Faith as well as his two sisters in law Susan Reese and Ann Gross both of whom reside in Durango.

Services will be announce for a later date. Memorial contributions can be made to Sunshine Gardens Assisted Living and Memory Care of 25 Sunshine Ct, Durango, CO, 81301 where his wife Kay Baker now resides.