Darrel Lee Baker

Darrel Lee Baker was born December 14, 1955 in Elkin, N.C. and died July 23, 2020 in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Born in the mountains of Wilkes County N.C. he lived most of his adult life in Raleigh, North Carolina and moved to Richmond Virginia in 2005. He attended Wilkes County Community College and completed his bachelors degree at University of North Carolina, Greensboro. He earned a Masters of Divinity from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Masters in Patient Counseling from Virginia Commonwealth University. In earlier years he worked as a scientist in the pharmaceutical industry, but in later years he focused on his love of caring for others and prior to his retirement in 2019 he worked as a chaplain at VCU hospital bringing comfort and peace to many. Darrel was an active member of Grace Baptist Church where he sang in the choir, was a deacon, and taught, prayed, and served faithfully with deep love for all. His family was central to his life and he delighted in driving back to North Carolina to visit his father Odell Baker in Elkin, his daughter Lauren and her husband Jeff Horton in Fuquay-Varina, his sister Melinda Lyons in Burlington and sister Carolyn Byrd and brother-in-law Gary Byrd in Jonesville. It was a great sadness to him that his mother Norma Jane Darnell Baker and brother-in-law Stephen Lyons died before him and could no longer join the family festivities. Darrel met his wife, Christine Parker Baker in Richmond, and the deep love they shared was evident to all they encountered. Christine’s children Amy Neal Bussey, Carter Neal and Alanna Betts were embraced as his own, as were their spouses Brent Bussey, Heather Love and Daniel Betts. He delighted in his grandchildren who range in age from 29 years to 5 months. Grayson and Annabelle Horton; Amber Holmes; Holden and India Neal; Cora Love; Julia, Carter, Wyatt, and Rebecca Bussey; Kieran Brown; and great-grandchild Kinsleigh Lynn Holmes were loved, celebrated, and enjoyed with delight. Darrel loved the God of grace, love and mercy, and worked to share this joy with everyone. He had the gift of listening deeply to each person’s story with full acceptance. The family describes him as a man of kindness, gentleness, compassion and courage. He also enjoyed all kinds of music, good movies, loved a good (or bad) joke, and brought a sense of fun everywhere he went. This world is a better and kinder place because he lived.