On January 9th Holden (Denny) Baker's 3 plus year struggle with vascular dementia and heart failure ended. His wife and their son were with him. Two weeks earlier, he and his wife Nancy (Bortnick) Baker celebrated their 60th anniversary.
Denny was born April 13, 1940, in New York City and grew up in Westport, CT, Colorado Springs, CO, and Clayton, MO. He graduated from Clayton High School, Washington University in St. Louis, MO, with a BA & MA in Education. He served in the US Army Reserves and was honorably discharged in 1969 as an E-5. He taught high school and junior high school English and was a Lecturer at SUNY Buffalo before moving to Greenfield in 1974. In Greenfield, after becoming sober, he worked as an Alcohol and Drug counselor for many years, and retired in 1999.
He constructed crossword puzzles from 1997-2021, with his work appearing in numerous publications including The New York Times. He attended Will Shortz’s American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, CT, where he and Nancy spent many years as officials for the tournament.
He enjoyed traveling and birdwatching with his wife and family. One of the highlights of their travels was spending three months as eco-tourist guides in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Other trips included Fiji, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, Panama, Ecuador (The Galapagos), France, England and South Africa. He and Nancy happily counted more than 1,800 species of birds around the world.
Travels also included all 50 states and all of the provinces of Canada. For many years, he and Nancy spent several months each winter in Arizona. They also enjoyed many canoe trips to the Adirondacks, throughout New England, and eastern Canada.
Throughout his travels he always had his camera with him to create a record of the places and birds he observed. He also photographed trains and posted the pictures on-line at RRpicturearchives.net, where he has over 4500 pictures. He enjoyed reading, music, and following the Red Sox. Although he couldn't play, he loved to watch and cheer on Nancy and friends as they played pickleball.
He is predeceased by his parent's Geoffrey and Ruth (Griswold) Baker, and by his son Aaron Benjamin. Beside his wife, he leaves his son, David Geoffrey (partner, Cynthia Evans), 3 grandchildren, Samuel Robert, Tessa Pauline and Leila Jane, all of Olympia, WA. He also leaves his BIL, Robert M. Bortnick (Lyn), SIL Jane Griffith (Jeff) and SIL Betty Schneider (Alvin) as well as many nephews, nieces and cousins.
In lieu of flowers, the next time you see someone with dementia look them in the eye and say hello. A special thank you to Pioneer Valley Hospice, Lifepath, and the Veterans Administration who made it possible for Denny to remain at home until the end.
A Celebration of His Life will take place this summer.