THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 24, 1997 TAG: 9701220101
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOHN-HENRY DOUCETTE, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 74 lines
TWENTY-ONE YEARS, three months and eleven days.
Indian River Ruritan Club president Earl Baker knows this stretch of time well. It is the life span of his son, Mark J. Baker, who died tragically in 1991 while working as a roofer. He fell through a roof after three weeks on the job.
Earl Baker, 54, talks about his son the way a son would like to be remembered.
He tells you Mark was the type of young man you hope your son grows into. The kind who worked hard in school, excelling in math and science, and played sports to the best of his ability. In Mark's case, the ability was considerable. Especially on the baseball diamond.
He had come back home that year. He was going to finish his degree at Old Dominion after three years in Lynchburg, but decided to take a semester off to work.
He started that roofing job in September 1991. He died Oct. 2.
He was the kind of young man you just don't forget.
Each year, a hard-working Indian River High School student will benefit from a new scholarship sponsored by the Indian River Ruritan Club in the memory of Mark Baker.
The $500 award will be awarded to a graduating senior who is college bound. It is the club's second scholarship supporting the high school; they also fund the Paul Wolfe Sr. Memorial Scholarship, another $500 grant. Ten Indian River High School graduates have gone to college with the help of that scholarship.
The scholarships have been funded in part through the club's annual turkey shoots, which have grown in popularity in recent years. Indian River Ruritan is one of the smaller clubs in the region, with under 20 members, but their turkey shoot regularly turns a profit.
Before the 1996 turkey shoot, Baker told the club if they could raise $5,000, he'd match it, and use money made from investing the combined funds to start the Mark Baker scholarship.
The Ruritan Club held the event on 11 consecutive weekends through fall and winter. People came and paid to shoot. By the time it wrapped up in December, local shooters had sent more than 8,000 bullets through targets with a crudely drawn turkey. The participants won turkeys, hams and other prizes, and the club made a killing on raffles, too.
The Ruritan Club pulled in $8,100, and Earl Baker kept his word. Using an oversized check with he and his wife Lorraine's names, and Mark's name, Baker presented his club with a $5,000 check Dec. 15 at their annual dinner.
It was a fine moment, he said. But it doesn't bring back his son.
``You always question why these things happen,'' said Baker. ``I ask the Good Lord. But He has a reason for everything happening. Maybe this (scholarship) is the good part.''
Baker credited others in the club as well. Jack Ames, the club's treasurer. And Bill Moore, the vice president. Paul Wolfe, too - he's the son of the man for whom they named their first scholarship.
Baker is proud of the people in his club. And thankful to them for being there through this endeavor.
He hopes the club may some day fund 10 scholarships because scholarships recognize potential and, hopefully, give that potential a push.
He showed a photo of his son. The men look alike.
``It's rough when you lose your kids,'' he said. ``It's something you can't get off your mind. You coached 'em in ball, you participated with 'em in sports, and then their life is wiped out like that. It's like a part of you is wiped out.''
It is Earl Baker's hope that many young Indian River men or women will use this scholarship in the years ahead.
And have a better chance at life. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Earl Baker, left, hands over the $5,000 check he presented to the
Indian River Ruritan Club - represented by him, Jack Ames, Bill
Moore and Paul Wolfe - in memory of his Baker's son, Mark, who died
in a roofing accident in 1991.