Leonard Mark Baker

Lieutenant Colonel Leonard M. Baker, US Army Retired, of Black Mountain, North Carolina passed away on December 4, 2024 at age 77. Len was born in Brooklyn, New York on April 4, 1947 and was preceded in death by his mother Raisy Baker and father Alfred Baker. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Gaye Baker, his two daughters Jennifer Holt and husband Kyle Holt and Alexis Baker and husband James Quattlebaum of Black Mountain and granddaughter Cammy Sky Holt of Swannanoa, North Carolina. Len is also survived by his sister Denise Barouche and husband Ralph of Melbourne, Australia.

Len enlisted in the Army in 1969. He excelled as an electronic instrument repairman at the Southeastern Signal School at Fort Gordon, Georgia and entered Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, where he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the Ordnance Corps.  Len was assigned to Huntsville, Alabama for basic officer training as a Missile Material Officer. There, he met the love of his life Gaye Melody, who was working as a recreational and ceramic specialist for the Army.  If you ask Gaye how the story goes, she will say, “One plate led to another.”  In March 1971, they were married in El Paso, Texas and resided at White Sands Missile Range.  A year later, Gaye joined Len on an unaccompanied tour in Korea, where he was a lieutenant in a general support missile company.

Moving 17 times in his 22-year career, they toured many parts of the world together, including several assignments to Germany. They returned to Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, where Len was an Inspector General for the Missile Munitions Center and School and then on to the Strategic Defense Command. When asked about his accomplishments, Len always mentioned that his most memorable and satisfying assignment was at the Tank Automotive Command in Warren, Michigan, where he was the assistant product manager for the new truck system called the Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT). While serving in the 9th Division in Tacoma, Washington, Len received numerous military awards and completed his undergraduate degree at St. Martin's College. He continued his education by completing a graduate degree from Ball State University while serving in Europe. 

After they retired in 1991, Gaye designed their dream home and they built it together in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Len took a teaching position at Asheville-Buncombe Community College for 8 years.  Semi-retired, Gaye and Len established Black Mountain Pottery, making and selling hand thrown pottery. They volunteered for several local non-profits and worked part time at the Old Depot Association for 20 years.  He will be interred at the Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery in Black Mountain, North Carolina, with just family members in attendance. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to a local animal rescue or shelter.

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