E. Willson Baker

Dr. E. Willson Baker, 83, died peacefully at his home on Saturday, June 11, 2022, surrounded by the love of his wife and daughters.  Willson was born to Dr. Edwin A. & M. Edythe (Snell) Baker on January 16, 1939, at Fremont Memorial Hospital, a few blocks from his home at 706 Hayes Avenue where he passed.  He loved Clyde and Fremont all his life, especially the days he spent golfing at the Fremont Country Club, or boating on Lake Erie, or visiting with his many friends. 

He graduated from Clyde High School in 1956, where he played football (center) and ran track.  His high school yearbook captured his spirit well, calling him “a mischievous sort of boy, but nonetheless our pride and joy.”  He graduated from The Ohio State University undergrad and then dental school in 1963, and he taught his daughters how to march to Script Ohio about as soon as they could walk.  He was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity.  After dental school, he served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, at Keesler Air Force Base.  He then moved to Fair Haven N.J., near his wife’s home town, where he practiced dentistry and orthodontics.  When his daughters went to college, he moved back home to his beloved Ohio, where he practiced orthodontics in his Fremont home office, with Chelle by his side manning the office.  He was a life-long active Republican and was very active in politics his whole life.  He was a member and past President of the Fremont Rotary Club.  He loved the Buckeyes, good wine, good food, and Lake Erie Walleye.  He played golf every day he could get outside.  He loved his family very much and his many nieces, nephews and extended family.

He married Judith Ann Logan in 1959, with whom he had two daughters, Jill and Wendy.  After his first wife died in 1973, he married Meredith Lee Dean, with whom he had his daughter Jennifer.  After that marriage, he married Rochelle (Chelle) Knudsen Puder in 2006, after a long and happy courtship.  He is survived by his wife Chelle, his daughters, Jill (Stuart), Wendy (Erik), and Jenn (Benji), his grandchildren, Kyle, Allison, Melissa, Matt, Sophia, and Caleb and his stepchildren Carrie (Ben), Curtis (Kara) and Charlie (Christie) and step-grandchildren Austin, Eloise, Madalyn, and Wesley. He was preceded in death by his brother Richard, sister Shirley, and stepson Cory.

He always wanted an Irish wake instead of a funeral, and we aren’t going to pull that off, but if you knew him, you know how much he would like it if you would have a cold beer and say a toast on his behalf to a life well lived. 

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