Ronald Franklin Baker

Ron was born on January 6, 1938, in Houston, Texas to Laura Mae Ida Pflugbeil and Franklin Monroe Baker. In his early years, Ron attended school at Lamar Elementary, Robert E. Lee Elementary, and James Hogg Junior High. Ron graduated from Jefferson Davis High School in December 1955. In college, Ron worked to put himself through the University of Houston, graduating Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in August of 1959.

Ron married Peggy Virginia Jones on September 4, 1957, in Houston, Texas. During their 16 years of marriage, Peggy and Ron bore three children – Ronda Kaye Baker (von Sehrwald), Russell Franklin Baker and Randall Scott Baker. They built a home in the Memorial area of west Houston in 1966.

In Ron’s early career, he joined Texas Butadiene & Chemical in Channelview, Texas in June 1959 as he was finishing his education at the University of Houston. From 1962 to 1973, Ron developed his career with Fish Engineering & Construction, working as an Instrument Engineer, and was promoted to Project Manager, working on domestic and overseas projects in Chile and Argentina. In September of 1973, Ron moved to Hudson Engineering & Construction as Project Manager leading projects in Texas, Louisiana and Iran. Ron joined Roy M. Huffington in 1976 and moved to Jakarta, Indonesia to lead the development of Pertamina’s Bontang LNG facility in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, which is still the country’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant.

Ron closed his career in moving to the Washington, D.C. area in 1988 joining the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, as Project Manager over NIH’s campus for all infrastructure, utilities and construction. Ron retired in 2002.

Ron cherished his family and spent time with his loved ones whenever he could. He enjoyed his hobbies of travel, tennis, golf, fishing, and snow skiing. He traveled to every content in the world, except Antarctica.

Ron is pre-deceased by his wife, Ruta Penkiunas. He is survived by his daughter – Ronda von Sehwald; his son – Russell Franklin Baker and his daughter-in-law Debbie Baker; his son Randall Scott Baker and his daughter-in-law Melissa Baker; his sister Susie Adams and brother-in-law John Adams, and grandchildren – Heather Janelle Ulskey and her husband Anthony Ulskey, Ian Scott Baker, Laura Elizabeth Baker-Chen and her husband Yupei Chen, and Anton von Sehrwald; and two great-grandchildren Easton and Elena Ulskey.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00 am on November 19, 2026, at St. Peter's United Methodist Church, Lott Hall, 20775 Kingsland Blvd., Katy, TX.

Donations may be made to the Justice High School Scholarship Fund at https://www.jhsscholars.org/contribute.