Lawrence "Wendell" Baker November 18, 1933 - May 28, 2016

Lawrence "Wendell" Baker of Sisters, Oregon, passed away on May 28, 2016, surrounded by his family at St. Charles Medical Center Bend. He was 82.

A Celebration of Life gathering of family and friends will be planned for later this year.

When diagnosed with cancer in December 2015, he faced the challenge of chemotherapy and eventually radiation therapy with great courage, optimism and fight. This was typical of how he approached life's challenges. He was going to "do his best" to beat this thing. Sadly, he lost the fight when he succumbed from complications caused by the treatments.

Wendell was born November 18, 1933 in Lavonia, Georgia, to Joe Brown and Laura Hester (Fuller) Baker.

Wendell worked as an industrial finish salesman/designer, which brought him to Springfield, Oregon, in 1966, where he held the largest account in the U.S. with Georgia Pacific for the next 20 years. Even though Wendell lived in the Northwest for the rest of his life, he never lost his endearing Southern accent and humorous Southern idioms.

Wendell retired from his first career in 1986 and in 1990 he began 19 years as a radiation protection technician, years that he described as the "favorite time" of his life. He enjoyed and befriended many people that he met at the outages he worked during those years. He was always up for the challenge of learning new things and staying sharp. He found those opportunities in the nuclear power industry.

His hobby and passion was woodworking. He loved making things for his family ranging from simple birdhouses to more complex furniture and buildings. He enjoyed the creativity involved in thinking through how to make something both useful and attractive. A second talent he held was cooking. His family enjoyed many delicious holiday meals and barbecues as a result of his skills in the kitchen.

He was a man from the generation that believes in hard, honest work. He didn't expect things to be given to him. He lived life with integrity, most evidenced by the fact that he was a man of his word. He enjoyed helping others, often lending a hand to neighbors, friends and family.

Wendell was committed and loyal to those he loved. Some of his best moments were when he could help a young person in his life. What he enjoyed most was seeing them succeed at their goals.

He had that rare ability of not taking himself too seriously. His quick wit, fast thinking and natural sense of humor could have the whole room crying with laughter. His family will miss that part of him immensely and they hope they inherited even a quarter of his love of laughter and life.

Survivors include his "best friend & partner" (as he often called her), wife, Lynn Baker; three daughters, Pam Baker, Kim Baker Sitowski and Jan Baker; a son Larry Baker and stepsons Mike Reifschneider and Mark (wife Sheila) Reifschneider. Other survivors include seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Memorial contributions in Wendell's memory may be made to Sisters Habitat for Humanity, 141 W. Main Ave., PO Box 238, Sisters, OR 97759 or online at http://www.sistershabitat.org.