Ronald "Ron" Baker

Dates

Obituary

Ronald Baker, 68, Mount Vernon, SD died Friday, July 29, 2022, at the Dougherty Hospice House in Sioux Falls after a three year battle with mesothelioma.

A Funeral Mass of Christian Burial will be Monday, August 1 at 10:00 am at St. John’s Catholic Church in Plankinton, SD. Visitation will be one hour prior to the services at the church. Burial will be in the Mount Vernon Cemetery. Arrangements by Bittner Funeral Chapel.

Ronald Rock Baker was born March 10, 1954, in Mitchell to Donald and Clara (Bussmus) Baker.  He grew up on the family farm and graduated from Mount Vernon High School in 1972. Ron married his high school sweetheart, Debra Overweg March 15, 1974. He was a third-generation farmer and now passed on to his sons. He was the Mount Vernon Cemetery Sexton for 30 years, where he began digging graves by hand just out of high school. Ron was also a member of the National Trappers Association for 40 plus years, Mount Vernon Township board member, and St. Michael’s church board.

Ron’s best memories were shared with his family. He always said the unplanned get-togethers were the best. He enjoyed working the melon fields including the harvesting and long visits with his friends at Fordham Hutterite Colony and Rockport Colony. He loved working cattle, especially with his kids and even his son-in-law and daughters-in-law. He said, “working cattle together is the best form of family counseling, if you can make it through that, you can make it through anything.”

Ron is survived by his wife of 48 years, Debra; three children: Matthew (Jolene) Baker and their children: Anna, Emily, and Zach; Kyle (Ashley) Baker and their children: Hallie and Hudson; Kelly (Kenneth) Glanzer and their children: Corbin, Carter, and Clara; brothers, Dean Baker, Duane (Nan) Baker, Larry (Cheryl) Baker; sisters-in-law, Jan (Glenn) Lambert, Julie (James) Newton; and four aunts: Shirley (Baker) Fiala, Helen (Bussmus) Ripp, Donna (Busmuss) Wilkie, and Doris (Bussmus) Johnson.

He was preceded in death by his parents, father and mother-in-law, Dirk and Anna Overweg and sister-in-law, Kathy Baker.

Visitation(s)

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Cemetery