John Baker

John Baker, 62, of Des Moines, passed away Sunday, November 5, 2023 at his home with his wife by his side.

John was born on August 29, 1961 in Osceola, Iowa at Clarke County Hospital to A. Dean and Marjorie (Henson) Baker. He was raised in Winterset, Iowa and graduated with the Class of 1980.

John started working at American National Can/Pechiney Plastic Packaging in the fall of 1980. He worked for 25 years most of the time as a rewinder operator, until he had to retire due to health reasons.

John and Bea (Heldenbrand) met in June of 1980 and married March 7, 1981 at the Earlham Church of Christ. They celebrated 42 years of marriage this year. They lived in Des Moines for many years before moving to Colfax in September of 1998, returning to Des Moines in June of 2019.

John was baptized on January 13, 2013 at Highland Park Church of the Nazarene by Pastor Pete Hall. He came to know Jesus better under the guidance of Pastors Daryle Wright, Shannon Wright and David McNeely.

When he was young, John was involved in the Boy Scouts. He was a union member of Graphic Communication Union Local 727-S which then went into the Graphic Communication Teamsters Union. In his spare time, as his health allowed, John enjoyed working on cars and trucks, riding lawn mowers, fishing, auctions, and refinishing antique furniture and putting together model cars and trucks.

From the day they were married, John always had a dog that followed him, sat with him, had a place in the bed beside him - (not on Bea’s side). On July 9, 2023 we said goodbye to John’s Attitude. Attitude had been with us for 10 years.

John was greeted in heaven not only by Jesus, his Lord and Savior, his mom, Marjorie, nephews, Jeremiah and Isaiah, but also by his beloved dogs, Spook, Bear, Peanut, Snuggles, Buster, Sampson, Taffy, and Attitude. He was also preceded in death by his father-in-law, Joe Heldenbrand and brothers-in-law, Jeff Heldenbrand and Rick Hervey.

John is survived by his wife, Bea Baker of Des Moines; his father, Dean Baker of Winterset; daughters of our hearts, Jessie (Nathan) Jones of Minnesota, Elizabeth Laughridge of Perry; brothers, Tom (Nancy) Baker of Winterset, Mike (Sheri) Baker of Adel, Richard (Sheila) Baker of Winterset, and Patrick (Anne) Baker of Lorimor; sister, Beth Whiteing; mother-in-law, Wilma Heldenbrand of Des Moines; brother-in-law, Lew (Rose) Heldenbrand of Prole; sister-in-law, Carla (David) Poe of Hedrick; best friend, Glenn (Becky) Aiken of North Carolina; along with many nieces and nephews.

A visitation will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Thursday, November 9, 2023 at Caldwell Parrish Funeral Home, Winterset Chapel. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, November 10th at the funeral home with burial to follow in the Winterset Cemetery. Memorials may be directed to John’s church, payable to HP Nazarene, memo-Building Fund.