Beloved Father, Grandfather, and Great Grandfather and long time resident of Baker Road, South Slocan,
B.C., Stanley Baker died peacefully at Mountain Lakes Retirement Home in Nelson B.C. after a short
hospitalization. Predeceased by his Father (Walter Baker), Mother (Margaret Ellen), and his wife Nancy (Xanthe) all previously of South Slocan and his brothers Alfred, Robert and Charlie, and his sister Dorothy Smith of Chelan, Washington.
Stan is survived by his daughter Penny(Piete) Stuyt of Cherryville, B.C., and sons David(Brenda) Baker of Millarville, Alberta and Peter Baker of North Vancouver, B.C., his grand daughters Marcie-Lyne(Shawn)
Gilarowski of Ottawa, Ontario and Margaret(Carey) Benson of Enderby, B.C., his grand sons Jordan Baker of Okotoks Alberta, and Brandon Baker of Vancouver, B.C., his great-grand daughters Allashua
Gilarowski and Jerrika Baker and great-grandson Aiden Benson. Stan was also a big brother and is survived by his two little brothers Dustin and Darren Neufeld of Kelowna. He loved mentoring kids in the outdoors, and in practical skills of all type. We are all so much richer for it.
Stan arrived in Nelson B.C. accompanied by his wife Nancy in early 1948 shortly after being married in Vancouver. Stan soon found work with West Kootenay Power at South Slocan. Stan and Nancy soon moved to South Slocan, building the house on the hill among the vintage apple trees above the Catholic Church. There he raised a family of three, Penny, David and Peter. Stan’s parents, Walter and Margaret, retired from Vancouver to the Kootenays joining him on the property. This home became a central gathering place for the extended Baker family for many years, and was a wonderful and loving place to grow up and play, and was well known to his brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Stan was always active with the community, he volunteered for the South Slocan Recreation Commission to create and look after a small park and the beach at Crescent Valley. For many years he was on the South Slocan water board, managing and repairing the South Slocan community water system. When his own children left home he volunteered with Big Brothers and the Boy Scouts. He was active in many green initiatives, including the clean up of the Kootenay River, opposition to clear cut logging, preservation of park land, and the designation of new parks. He was a member of the Kootenay Mountaineering Club, the Ben Shaw and Apex cross-country Ski Clubs, and the Silver King and the Red Mountain Ski Clubs.
At work, Stan was well known as a lineman throughout the West Kootenays. He helped connect the many families and communities of the West Kootenays as the Kootenay, Slocan, and Arrow lakes communities electrified. On call Stan responded whenever there were power outages at a home or where there were system issues to resolve. At the end of his career, Stan re-trained as an electrician and worked in the power plants on the Kootenay River.
Stan was a WWII Navy veteran serving with the Royal Canadian Navy from the beginning to the end of World War II. He spent most of his time in the North Atlantic on the destroyers HMCS Skeena, Haida, and Sioux on convoy duty first from St. John’s to the United Kingdom during the Battle of the Atlantic, and then during the resupply of Russia on convoy duty from Scapa Flow around the North Cape of Norway to Murmansk. On D-Day the Sioux moved down the English Channel to assist with channel clearing and moved in close to provide artillery support for the Winnipeg Rifles landing on Juno Beach. Stan rarely talked about those war years and his later memoirs essentially end as he joined the Navy.
Stan never tired of the peace and beauty he found in the Kootenays and it is fitting he found his final rest there. A Celebration of Life for his family and friends will be held in the Spring 2017 in Nelson, with details to follow later.
Arrangements are under the direction of Thompson Funeral Service. Online condolences may be expressed at www.thompsonfs.ca