Hoyt Baker
Hoyt Baker, 81, Belleville, died July 23, 2004, at Cloud County Health Center, Concordia.
Born Dec. 4, 1922 at Newton, he was the son of Paul and Vivien Baker.
He graduated from Peabody High School, the University of Kansas, and Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
As a KU student, Hoyt lettered in basketball and football, playing in the 1948 Orange Bowl. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta and K-club, and remained an avid Jayhawk and Delta fan throughout life.
He was married to Glenna Wallace. To this union two children were born.
An Army veteran of World War II, he served in the South Pacific. Hoyt began his career in 1948 as a high school teacher and coach at Belleville. He settled his family at Upland, Calif., where he continued to teach and coach until the death of his wife in 1981.
Hoyt moved to Belleville and was united in marriage to Joan Tibbetts in 1982. The couple spent the next 22 years traveling, enjoying their combined families, and sharing time with friends in Kansas and California.
Hoyt was a member of the Lions Club, First Presbyterian Church, American Legion, and Belleville Coffee Club.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, his parents, and a sister, Carol Foote.
He is survived by his wife; son and daughter-in-law, Bart and Connie Baker of Chesterfield, Mo.; daughter, Courtney Baker of Carlsbad, Calif.; three stepdaughters, Cheri Freshwater of Naples, Fla., Cathy Ferns of Leawood, and Cam McCracken of Manhattan; three brothers, Heath of Belleville, Ross of Peabody, and Paul Jr., of Gulf Breeze, Fla.; three grandsons; six step-grandchildren; and two step-great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at First Presbyterian Church, Belleville. The Rev. Tim Maguffee will officiate. Inurnment will be at 11:30 a.m. Friday at Prairie Lawn Cemetery, Peabody. Pastor Linda Willey will officiate.
Memorials have been established with NCK Health Care Foundation, Belleville, and Delta Tau Delta fraternity, Lawrence.
