WWII Veteran William D. “Bill” Baker, died May 1, 2020 at Edwardsville Care Center of complications related from COVID-19. He was 96.

BIll served in the US Army as an amphibious engineer in the South Pacific under Admiral Halsey during WWII. He also served in major assaults on Morotai Island in Indonesia, in the Netherlands, the East Indies, Lingayen Gulf on Luzon in the Philippine Islands, and eventually in Osaka, Japan.

After his honorable discharge from the military, Bill married his sweetheart June (who passed in 1996) and began his large family (raising 13 children in all).  He retired after a long career at the US Post Office in 1984.

Bill loved to take his family on camping trips, playing any card game (especially poker and pinochle), and the Chicago Cubs. Most of all, he loved spending time with his family.

Bill is deeply missed by his 12 surviving children, 90 great-grandchildren, and 19 great-great-grandchildren… and all his neighbors and friends that he made over his long life.

Sources:

William Baker obituary at Crawford Funeral Homes