John C. Baker

John C. Baker passed away peacefully at his home on the evening of September 9, 2024 with most of his family in attendance. His parents, John William and Constance Ruth (Calverley) Baker, were living in Scarsdale, NY when he was born in New York City on October 14, 1933. In those days, they summered at the Blueberry Hill Farm in Goshen, CT. In 1951 the family sold the farm and moved to their home on Baldwin Hill Road in Litchfield – never to move again. His mother took him to New Zealand to visit her family when he was 4, and that was the beginning of his travels and life abroad until he retired back in Litchfield in 1993.

John spent his elementary and middle school years at Colonel Sarka’s Litchfield School for Boys, his high school years at The Hill School in Pottstown, PA, and his college years at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Having completed his ROTC program at Cornell, John joined the U. S. Air Force and was stationed in Texas and Japan. He joined Cargill, Inc. as a graduate of Cornell and spent most of his career in the Philippines and in Thailand as their country manager.

Early in his 24 year stay in the Philippines he met and married Janet Paulin, and their 3 children were born in the Philippines. When he and Janet retired to Litchfield in 1993, it was a real return to his roots. After building their home, they settled in and have enjoyed their lives in the small community of Milton.

John loved gardening and working in the outdoors as evidenced by doing all the landscaping around their home by himself. He became a beekeeper and never lost his fascination of his “girls,” as he called them. He was the Treasurer of the Litchfield Hills Audubon Society for 18 years and, as such, served on many committees of that organization. He also joined the Litchfield Housing Trust and later the Litchfield Conservation Commission. He was the President of the C.B. Ripley Land Trust, and he was also an active member of the Connecticut Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation. He loved his tennis time at the Kilravock Tennis Club every summer. At home he took great pride in his two Burmese Pythons and shared them with the community at White Memorial’s Family Nature Day in September every year.

To cherish his memory, he leaves his wife, Janet, and his children John P. (Roxie) Baker, James C. (Michelle) Baker and Constance B. (Gary) Gillman, and his grandchildren, Lily Anne and Charlotte Bee Gillman, Charles Calverley and Lauren Eva Baker and Ella Maisano, all of whom were the “apples of his eye.”

His burial will be private and at the convenience of the family. A celebration of his life will be held in the early spring. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Litchfield Audubon Society (LHAS), P.O. Box 861, Litchfield, CT 06759 or the Litchfield Housing Trust, Inc. (LHTI), P. O. Box 1121, Litchfield, CT 06759 will be sincerely appreciated.

“Good night, sweet prince, and bands of angels sing thee to thy rest.” ~William Shakespeare, Hamlet.