Bert Thurber Baker, a Carson City resident for the past 26 years, died June 11, 2003. He was born May 9, 1918, to Bert and Dorothy Baker.
He graduated from Commerce High School in San Francisco and joined the Army Air Corps during World War II.
After finishing his military service, he moved to San Diego where he became a licensed landscape contractor. He worked on projects such as the San Diego Zoo, the University of San Diego and many federal projects. He owned and operated several nurseries in Southern and Northern California.
He loved the outdoors and enjoyed deep-sea fishing off the coast of Mexico, fishing the lakes and streams of Northern California. He liked to hunt dove in Mexico, pheasant in the Sacramento Delta and deer in the Sierra Nevada.
In the late 1950s, he moved back to Northern California, where he was involved in building the Fouts Springs Boys Camp outside Stonyford, Calif., worked for Redwood City; retired from Riverside County; and retired from Sacramento Municipal Utility District in 1979. He was a lifetime Mason of Lodge 120 in San Francisco.
He was preceded in death by his son Robert and brother Alan.
Among his survivors are his wife of 27 years, Pat; daughter and son-in-law, Barbara and Albert Leroux of South San Francisco; son and daughter-in-law Lee and Cheryl Baker of Auburn, Calif.; grandsons Albert, Mark and Rick of San Francisco; granddaughter Christina of Auburn; great grandsons Albert Louis, Eric and Alexander; great-granddaughter, Victoria; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
A private celebration of life will be at a later date.
Memorial contributions may be made to Barton Memorial Hospital Hospice, P.O. Box 9578, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96158; or the Shiner's Hospital for Children in Sacramento.
Walton's Chapel of the Valley is in charge of arrangements.