Benjamin Franklin Baker

Benjamin Franklin Baker, age 90, of Jeromesville, OH passed away Thursday, June 6, 2024. He was born in Ashland on July 29, 1933. He is the last of his generation, youngest of 3 sons of Donald and Ola (Higgenbotham) Baker of Jeromesville, both deceased. He was preceded in death by his brother, Donald Jr. and his nephew, William, as well as his middle brother, John and his wife, Alda Baker, all former residents of Jeromesville.

He was a devoted husband and was preceded in death by his first wife, Beverly (Metzger) Baker, of Jeromesville, for 13 years, whom passed away in 1965. Together they had 2 children; Barbara Mutchler of Florida (deceased in 2019) and surviving daughter, Becky (Emanuel Schlabach) Baker of Wooster. He has one grandson, Tyson (Allison) Mutchler of Florida and 2 great grandchildren, Ender and Elliana.

He has 2 surviving Baker nephews from his late bronther John; Jeff (Debbie) Baker and their 2 sons, Justin and Jared Baker, all currently in South Carolina, and Steve (Vickie) Baker of North Carolina and his 2 children, Nathan and Amy.

He was a devolted husband and was preceded in death by his second wife, Lucille (Farney) Baker of Illinois for 52 years, whom passed away in 2020. Together they had 1 daughter, Holly (Chris) Fair of Jeromesville. With Lucille, he had 3 step-children; Kim (Tom) Schwarzwalder of Ashland, Connie Smalley (deceased in 2020) of Ashland and Kristina (Daryl) Rowland (deceased in 2023) of Columbus. He has 6 step-grandchildren whom include Andrea (Corby) Campo of Ashland, Jason (Jessica) Markley of Ashland, Bryan and Bradley Kirkbride of Columbus, CJ and Danielle Schwarzwalder of Columbus. He also has 11 step-great grandchildren and 3 step-great great grandchildren.

To understand and know Frank, he was very proud to have retired after 38 years in 1997 from F.E. Myers of Ashland, OH. He was the leadman of the millwrights in the maintenance department and was in charge of moving the machinery from the former Orange Street buildings to the existing Pentair buildings. He first got into F.E. Myers as a welder for 11 years until he became leadman.

The Baker family 66-acre farm is where he was inspired to be a tradesman and where his work ethics were formed. His “fix everything” mentality was born! His nephew, Steve recalls down on the farm watching his grandfather, Donald and his 2 uncles and his own dad, Johnny when they needed a small tractor and wood splitter, they engineered and built them, which inspired him to be an engineer. One of Frank’s first jobs as a young man in Jeromesville was working in Jeromesville Welding and Machine, as well as Sigafoos Lumber Company. During that time he learned to weld and build what was known back in the day as TV antennas and they built all the TV antennas in Ashland County. His experience there led him to F.E. Myers. He was proud to be a carpenter and worked various building projects in Ashland County. He also had a roofing and spouting side business for many years with is friend and co-worker, Lloyd Sloan of Ashland. Always working 2 jobs and had a knowledge and jack-of-all-trades passion that also included plumbing, electrical, and small engine repair. He enjoyed organic gardening with Lucille and he was very proud of taking care of his 4.5 acres, tending to his walnut trees, and looking after his various kitties over the years and more recently, Emmie Charlie, whom he dearly loved.

He had a knack at engineering and building tools to perform his work tasks on his property, from building a trailer to building a wood ramp for his firewood, welding a handle on his mower to easily reverse and connect to his trailer, to building a platform on his mower to easily spray weeds, all to make his chores easier. The intensity of his ferocious will to continue fixing things was felt by his daughter, Holly, when he handed her an acetylene torch (to her shock) to fix his mower deck he damaged and bent last summer at the age of 89, that was normal for him to weld. His spirit and passion for never giving up will never be forgotten. His daughters, Holly and Becky enjoyed several months this past year spending time with him walking on the Gault Recreation Center track at the Wooster High School where he motivated himself to walk 2 times a week a half mile each day to try to keep moving. In his mind he was doing it for us, but the time spent with him was priceless.

Services will be 2:00 PM Wednesday June 12th, 2024 at Fickes Funeral Home in Jeromesville.

Friends may call 1 hour prior to the service on Wednesday at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to LifeCare Hospice of Wooster or the Gault Recreation Center.

Online condolences may be made at www.fickesfuneralhome.com.

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