- Date Of Birth: December 31, 1950
- Date Of Death: May 15, 2021
- State: Indiana
Mr. Ronald Lee Baker, 70, of Elkhart, passed away peacefully within the comfort of the Elkhart home of his daughter, Christy, on Saturday, May 15, 2021 at 3:15 pm. Ron had always wished that his eulogy would begin “He died doing what he loved the most surprising Mountain Lions” No, but seriously, Ron actually hated funerals, especially early ones. He always said that he was never a mourning person.
Born December 31, 1950 in Hillsdale MI, Ron was the son of the late Robert W. and Goldie M. (Billings) Baker. On January 4, 1983, Ron married the love of his life, the sweet Jami Lynn Christensen, in Elkhart. They spent nearly 40 wonderful years together until Jami passed in January before telling Ron the location of the TV remote. He has STILL not found that thing. They loved each other deeply, and Ron had always promised if they both made it to the 40 year mark that he’d take her to Hawaii. If they made it to the 45 year mark, he’d think about going back to pick her up.
Ron is survived by his daughter, Christy (John) Ritchie; his grandkids Zoe Hurley, Zeke Anderson and Zander Ritchie; his niece Laura (Matt) Knepper and a host of extended family, good friends and fellow devil dogs. We believe that a half a dozen or so of these folks might even say something nice about Ron if prompted. He also tolerated Christy and John’s motorcycle friends although he never could be talked in to going on a ride on “one of those things”. His daughter Christy had originally wanted to read some of Ron’s collection of his best dad jokes, but there’s already a part of the service where they’re having two minutes of silence, so…….
Ron served honorably and proudly in the United States Marine Corps as a platoon sergeant in Vietnam for several tours of duty. After returning stateside, he married his sweetie and they went on to spend over 25 years in business together as county title and abstract searchers for their company known as Michiana Searchers, Inc. Ron was also an over the road truck driver and enjoyed the open road where he could clear his head and feel free. He was a big Indianapolis Colts fan, but he was an even bigger fan of his family and his grandchildren, and they brought him more love and joy than he knew what to do with. Honest, generous and always the gentleman, Ron would go way, way out of his way to help someone, because that was the type of person he was. He was also an avid animal lover and enjoyed a good card game.
Our Ron always poked fun at himself and honestly, it was for good reason. He had the funniest quirks that kept his friends and family entertained around the clock. If you knew Ron well, you knew that once he was obsessed with something, he was hooked. Whether it was Tebow exercise tapes or getting excited about a specific diet that he loved to talk about but would never follow, Ron was our source of comedic material 24/7. While we wish Ron could still be here with us, we are honored to celebrate his wonderful life and the memories we have all shared with him. He truly brought an immense amount of joy and laughter into our world and we will miss him dearly.
