Harold "Tip" Baker

Harold “Tip” Baker, 90, passed away Monday, May 14, 2012 at Hospice Ministries, Ridgeland, Mississippi. He was born in Baileyton, Alabama on October 6, 1921, to Russell L. Baker and Mattie Haynes Baker, and the youngest of five children.

Tip”, as he preferred to be addressed, worked in the nursery business owned by his father until he moved to Cullman in the 1940’s. After he began working with the Alabama Highway Patrol in the early 1950’s, he and his wife, Olene, took their two sons and moved to Birmingham, then Spanish Fort, and later Montgomery, Alabama in 1953. In Montgomery, he and Olene had two daughters and Tip began his long career in the service station business. He first worked with Joe Waldrip and the Standard Oil Company and later took over his own business as owner/operator of Baker’s Chevron Service on Atlanta Highway for nearly 30 years.

Still living in Montgomery, Tip’s dear wife of 56 years, Olene Pinkerton Baker, passed away in 1995. Wishing to not be alone in his later life, Tip married Earline Clayton in 1996, who died suddenly in 1999. Later in 2001, Tip rekindled a high school friendship with Carole Newcomb and they were married in 2002 and have been living in Brandon, Mississippi since that time.

Harold “Tip” Baker was a member of Lake Harbor Church of Christ and also attended Christ’s United Methodist Church with Carole. He enjoyed his coffee club buddies and the friendships he had developed while in Brandon.

Along with his first two wives, Harold was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, Horace and Howard Baker of Cullman, Alabama; and two sisters, Vera Davis of Cullman and Verna Thrower of Arab, Alabama. He is survived by his wife, Carole Newcomb Baker, Brandon, Mississippi; two sons, Max E. Baker of Wetumpka, Alabama, Philip L. Baker and wife Connie of Orange Beach, Alabama; two daughters, Melissa B. Vinson and husband Carl of Tallahassee, Florida and Catherine O. Kirkley and husband Ed of Billingsley, Alabama; two step-daughters, Linda Norsworthy and husband Bob, of Brandon, Mary Shaddrix and husband Mike of Cullman; one step-son, Gerald Jones and wife Jaqueline of Arab; seven grandchildren, five great-grandchildren with Olene Pinkerton Baker and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and step-family and friends.

The Baker family extends its deepest appreciation to Linda and Bob Norsworthy and their family for their unselfish devotion to our father in his last years. They made being such long distances away from Dad much easier to bear.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00pm, Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at Baldwin-Lee Funeral Home in Pearl, Mississippi. The family will receive friends 12:00-2:00pm Wednesday at the funeral home. Graveside services are 1:00pm, Thursday, May 17, 2012 at Cullman City Cemetery, Cullman, Alabama.

Memorials may be made to Hospice Ministries, 450 Towne Center Blvd., Ridgeland, MS 39157, or the American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org or the Wounded Warrior Project at www.woundedwarriorproject.org.