Your life is a beautiful memory
your absence a silent grief
you sleep in "Gods beautiful garden"
in the sunshine of perfect peace.

Hello, my name is Cliffard Patton. Richard Baker is my Grandpa and sometimes I am called Aaron or Richard or Mike. I was born in 1980 and some of my earliest memories with Grandpa are of me, my brother Richard, cousins Mike and Aaron playing Hide and Go Seek with Grandpa in his house. At that time the garage was converted into a room still. Grandpa would close his eyes, count in the living room corner and us kids would all take off in different directions and hide. Grandpa would slowly walk from room to room searching for us and as he would turn his back, we would scurry out of the room and into another one. And sometimes we would all end up in the same room. 
Grandpa could never seem to find us. After sometime he would make his way back to the living room and shout Olly olly oxen free. Then all of us grandkids would come out from behind a couch, some drapes or from a closet and greet Grandpa. We would all be smiling and having a good time. Grandpa would also take me and my brother and Mike and Aaron to Houser's zoo. 
My mother brother and I lived on Jasmine Street in Eau Gallie next to the Eau Gallie Causeway, near Grandpa and Grandma. I didn't have a dad, but that didn't matter because Grandpa was always there for me. We would always visit him or he would come by. US1 runs north into Eau Gallie Blvd and there used to be a Burger King on US1 and a McDonalds across the street. Grandpa would take us to Burger King and sometimes we would cross US1 to McDonalds. I was around six years old and my brother was around eight years old. Grandpa would walk while me and my brother would ride our bikes swaying side to side. As we made our way down the backroad Grandpa would point to the grass on the side of the road and say, What's that over there?, and my brother would ride over to the grass and find a dollar bill crumpled up. Then a moment or two later Grandpa would point and say to me, What is that right there?, and I would ride my bike into the grass to find a crumpled dollar too. Grandpa was good luck; we always found money when walking with him. We figured somebody must have lost their lunch money or it just fell out of people's pockets. We would get to Burger King and ride our bikes up to the drive thru and place and order there with the lady. Then we would go inside to order and eat. I didn't find out till years later, it was Grandpa crumpling up dollars bills in his pockets and tossing them into the grass when we weren't looking. 
Yeah, Grandpa and Mother would take me and my brother everywhere. We would go to different parks like, Ballard Park, Pineapple Park and that old science center across the street. I have fond memories of there. He would take us to rock and gem shows, coin and stamp shows, guns shows, gun stores, Western outfit stores and Native American festivals. He took us everywhere and as a young kid I was much lower to the floor, so I would crawl around on all fours looking under everything to see if I could find money or any other kind of treasure. At them gem shows I found a few stones a time or two. I would then show my findings to Grandpa and as long as I found them on the ground it was fair game. 
I remember being at a Native American Festival and there were a lot of fascinating things there like Jewelry, leather wears, Furs, Tomahawks and much more. I wanted everything and then I saw a silver pendant of a bird facing forward with its wings spread facing forward too. There were three torques strips inside each of the wings. I told Mother and Grandpa I wanted it. It was $30 or $35 and they said to me, are you sure you want this, because if you get it you can't have anything else? I said yes and they bought that pendant for me. I still have it today and it is priceless.    
He took us to the Renninger's Flea Market at the west end of Eau Gallie Blvd. There they had all kinds of stuff for sale like clothes, knives, trinkets, varieties of food, but the most fun thing they had was the booth area where they sold bags of dirt filled with gems and other precious stones. They had long metal troughs with water, the sifters and various priced and sized bags. Grandpa would take us there and we would buy bags and sift for stones. We had some luck, though we never found a million dollar stone, but boy did we have fun. 
One time I was swimming in the lake at Wickham Park and I found a silver ring with a number 1 symbol on it that was filled with torques. It had a wing on each side of the number 1. I knew who I wanted to give it to. I gave it to my number one Grandpa. He always kept that ring in a wooden box on his chest of drawers. 
In 1992 Superman died and Grandpa bought me and my brother each a copy of The Death of Superman saga. Grandpa was a young boy growing up when Superman came out. Richard and I grew up with Superman too. It was nice to share that with Grandpa. Yep, Grandpa was always there for us and in 1993 Jurassic Park came out and Grandpa wanted to see the movie, but didn't want to go alone. He called my mother and asked if we would go with him, of course we said yes. We saw it at the old Palms 8 Theatre on Babcock Street off of US1. Grandpa worked at Publix during them times. 
In 1999 the State Quarters came out and Grandpa started collecting the Quarter Proof Sets, one for me and one for my brother. He kept them in his dresser drawer. Years later the Presidential Dollar Coins came out and I started collecting them. I would give him the Proof Set's to hold and add to the quarters, so we could collect coins together. The years moved quickly and my mother, brother and me would always still spend every Thanksgiving and Christmas at Grandpa and Grandma's house. 
Throughout the 2000's I would drive to the beach and on my way home I would stop by Grandpa's house or his place of work to spend time with him before I headed back inland. In 2007 Grandma had passed, the family had got together and figured I could move in with Grandpa. I knew then, it was my turn to be there for Grandpa. I agreed and in two or three months my lease ended and I moved in with Grandpa. In his gold and platinum years Grandpa didn't get around like he used to. He didn't go to movie theatres, gun shows, or libraries to read anymore. He liked staying home more and reading the newspaper every day, all the different magazines my mother had got him and the books I would bring him. 
I had read the book 1812: The War That Forged a Nation' and it was a good read. A nice smooth read and I gave it to Grandpa and he enjoyed it. He told me about the parts he liked and said it was a good read too. That book started it all, I continued buying books and leaving them around his house and he would read them. I once left him a nice thick book on FDR, but I hadn't read it yet. That book disappeared and the next time I saw that book he had page corners folded in places and there were several yellow paper tabs with writing on them, sticking out the top of the book. After he had finished the book he would tell me all about it for days. I was happy that Grandpa was happy.
One time I was at Grandpa's and I had gotten out of the shower and I looked into the bathroom mirror and I had realized something. Even though I was much, much younger than Grandpa, I had a similar hair style as Grandpa. Receding in the front and thinning in the back. And when I would look into the mirror every now and then, I would think of Grandpa, about being back on a couch in his family room and Grandpa would be on the other couch. We would be talking about how smart the humans were back during the Stone or Bronze Age and the lack of credit man gives them or discussing the great wonders of the vast universe and flying a starship across the galaxy.
Grandpa was a great man, the greatest father, and the world greatest grandpa. He was a thinker, a poet, an avid reader, a quick and crafty storyteller, a war veteran from WWII in the PTO, a hard and steadfast worker, and a dedicated family man. He would light up a room and brighten everyone's day a little more with his clever remarks and his famous stories.
And if you'd listen to Grandpa you could learn something. Whether it was about the old West, gold mining, ancient to modern history or even the kisses he left on aisle three for the lovely cashier ringing him up at the Publix counter. 
You would also learn that Grandpa was a rich and famous author, who was once in California and convinced a realtor to take him looking for a nice mansion to buy. Or that he was an outlaw who had robbed hundreds of banks and trains, while managing to break out of half as many prisons. And that he was a natural ladies man, that had broken a few dozen hearts or more and nearly half had adopted him and took him home.
Grandpa taught me a lot. He taught me about life, he taught me about having fun, laughter and most importantly he taught me about the love of family. And Grandpa is the greatest man there has ever been in my life.

Thank you daddy for being an amazing man, father and grandfather. Growing up hearing you sing throughout the house, doing the twist in the living room together, going on adventures, teaching me gardening at a young age, giving us words of wisdom and stories of no end with lots of laughter. Most of all you taught us how great it is to be a family and what a role model you are, love you Daddy xo's

Love and prayers to all my cousins!  Uncle Dickie was an amazing man.  May God hold him close!

 Thank you Dad for "Getting in the wrong Line"  and sharing your life with us. There are no accidents, everything happens for reason. Your extraordinary imagination showed me a world where all things were possible.  You hid many of lifes lesson in your legendary stories. 
 We needed your "magic" 
 Love,
 # 2 Daughter suzie

My brother Dickie is a unique poet, inventor of words, teller of fantastic stories for children, one of the good guys, very intelligent, and interested in everything.  I believe he read everything he could about everything, even the dullest pamphlets and "how-tos" I ever saw.  He lived and believed in a magic world here on earth and even believed in fairies.  I know this because he taught me all about fairies.  I always wanted Dickie to sit next to me at mealtime because he would eat everything I didn't like.  Every time we spoke, Dickie never ended our conversations with "goodbye".  Instead, he always said "Love you."  I always said "Love you too" back. So, until I see you again, Dickie, I love you, too.  I be me - Marilu.

OBITUARIO

Richard S. Baker

23 enero, 1927 – 21 septiembre, 2017

Life Event Center at Florida Memorial Gardens

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