Hoosick – Walter Cottrell Baker, 89, died Saturday, August 16, at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington after a brief illness.
Walter was a life-long farmer, living his whole life in the home where he was born on May 2, 1919. He was the son of the late David Allen and Hattie Cottrell Baker and was also pre-deceased by his two sisters, Agnes P. Cornell and Lois F. Cornell.
Graduating from Hoosick Falls High School in 1935, he chose to farm with his father, enlarging and improving the home farm on Bovie Hill in Hoosick, NY, purchased in 1916. He had an egg delivery route during the late 1940s and 50s selling to many of the corner markets and customers in the Troy area, as well as doing errands, dropping off folks and picking up supplies for some of the organizations of which he was a member.
He was a member of the Hoosick Grange for seventy-five years, most recently serving as chaplain at the time of his death. A life-long member of the First Baptist Church of Hoosick Falls, NY, he served in many roles, including those of Sunday School teacher, Deacon and Trustee. He also enjoyed being active in farming organizations, serving as an Agway committeeman, Rensselaer County Farm Bureau member, and he was on the Cornell Cooperative Extension Board, being named Conservation Farmer of the Year in 1964 and 1965.
The activities that gave him the most enjoyment were spending time with his family, hearing what his grandkids were up to, working outside on the farm and seeing the results of his labor develop each year, as well as visiting with his farming neighbors to exchange what was the “news” in the area. If a neighbor needed some help, he was a member of that generation that was always there to lend a hand, never expecting anything in return.
Surviving him are his wife, Barbara Frisbie Baker, his sons, Kendal Frisbie Baker and his wife Florina Capistrano-Baker and Sherman Walter Baker and his wife Sandra Castro-Baker, all of Hoosick Falls, Larry Cottrell Baker and his wife Patty Kaminski Baker of Eagle Bridge, NY, and Elon Lee Baker of Hoosick Falls, and a daughter, Hattie Ann Baker of Delmar, NY.
Grandchildren are Jessica S. Baker of Plattsburgh, NY, Matthew J. Baker and Lucas H. Baker of White Creek, NY, and Phoebe Laura Baker and Julia Thankful Baker of Hoosick Falls. He is also survived by his nieces, Arlene Davie, Geraldine Greene, Lorraine Brownell, and his nephews, David and Allen Cornell, and their children and grandchildren.
The funeral service was at the First Baptist Church of Hoosick Falls at 80 Main St. on Thursday, August 21, at 10 am. Calling hours were on Wednesday, August 20, from 2 until 4 pm and from 6 to 9 pm at the Robson Reinfurt Funeral Home at 72 Main St. Hoosick Falls. Burial was at the Maple Grove Cemetery in Hoosick Falls immediately following the service. A reception followed at the First Baptist Church. Memorial contributions in lieu of flowers may be made to the First Baptist Church of Hoosick Falls or to the Hoosick Falls Health Center.