Ralph Baker

DELTA -- Ralph Kenyon Baker, 83, died Feb. 25, 2008, at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau.

Born April 3, 1924, in Lake City, Ark., to the late Grover and Edith Speer Baker, he was an inspector for 27 years with General Motors in St. Louis. During World War II, he was a radioman with the U.S. Navy. He was a member of Randles Baptist Church, Whitewater Masonic Lodge 417, United Auto Workers in Poplar Bluff and several gospel groups. He was a former member of Collinsville Masonic Lodge 712.

On Nov. 26, 1946, he married Frankie Jo Vaughn who died May 17, 1987. On Sept. 15, 1990, he married Glenda Burnett who survives of the home.

Other survivors include: two sons, Robert Baker of Troy, Ill., and Joe Baker of Fairview Heights, Ill.; two daughters, Janet Smith of Edwardsville, Ill., and Paula Rhodes of Gilette, Wyo.; five stepsons, Jerry Burnett of Oak Ridge, Bob Burnett of Jackson, Alan Burnett of Benton, Tom Burnett of Chaffee and Kenny Burnett of Delta; a stepdaughter, Paulette Burnett of El Reno, Okla.; one brother, Vester Baker of Spring Valley, Calif.; three sisters, Violet Hollis of West Memphis, Ark., Vivian Baker of Paragould, Ark., and Virginia Loewen of Mobile, Ala.; and 20 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and nine great-great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a stepson, two brothers and two sisters.

Visitation will be held after 4 p.m. today at the Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee where services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday. The Rev. Charles Kohlbaker and Rick Cobb will officiate.

Burial with full military honors will follow in the Forest Hills Memorial Gardens near Morley.