Kenneth Cyril Leslie Baker (26 Apr 1941 - 12 Apr 2020)

In loving memory of Kenneth Cyril Leslie Baker who sadly passed away on 12th April 2020

Ken Baker Eulogy

Ken was born during the middle of the 2nd World War on 26th April 1941 to his parents Alfred Baker a then gunner in the Royal Artillery and Rose Baker at Thorpe Coombe Hospital in Walthamsow.

Ken was a brother to Brian, Len and Derek.

Ken was a husband to Margaret, Father to Matthew and Catherine, Father in Law to Selina and Andy and a doting

Grandfather to Adam, Zoe and Alfie.

Throughout Kens younger years from 1952 he attended Chapel End Secondary Modern, The Central School for Arts and Crafts finishing his education at the London School of print in 1961.

From here Ken had various jobs in the print trade as a compositor until he Joined the Mirror Group in Fleet Street as an assistant controller on the hot metal floor. In 1990 he was made redundant from the Mirror which gave challenging times for him and Margaret.

With perseverance he gained employment with the Church Missionary Society in 1990 as a Production Supervisor. In 1991 he was promoted to the Production and Marketing Manager, a post he held until his retirement on medical grounds in 2000.

During his youth and away from work Kens hobbies included Scouting where he held many different positions such as Scouter, Group Scout Leader and Baloo.

It was through Scouting he met Margaret in December 1971. His chat up line was a bit strange when he asked Margaret to darn his tights! They were both involved with the Walthamstow Gang Show at the time.

Ken asked Margaret to marry him in June 1972 and they were married at St Gabriel’s Church in Walthamstow on the 27th January 1973. Here they had a guard of honour from there then cub pack. Brian, Kens brother was best man.

On the 29th May 1974 Ken and Margaret were blessed with their son Matthew John and on the 22nd September 1976, they were blessed with their daughter Catherine Sarah.

Ken was plagued with numerous medical conditions, some which contributed to his early retirement in 2000, ranging from having a kidney taken out, throat cancer, a thyroidectomy and prostate cancer but he fought hard and overcome many of them.

During this time Ken was a Church Warden at St Gabriel’s in Walthamstow and Lay Minister at Holy Trinity, South Woodham Ferrers.

Moving on through the years saw the marriage of Catherine and Andy, Matthew and Selina and then the birth of Ken and Margaret’s three grandchildren Adam in 2006, Zoe in 2009 and Alfred in 2012 – named after his great grandfather.

Ken and Margaret moved from South Woodham Ferrers to Rayleigh and then onto Canvey in July 2018. Despite moving from Rayleigh Ken and Margaret kept in regular contact with their friends at the club that they attended on a near weekly basis.

Memories of Dad and Grandad

Dad was a kind, loyal, loving, determined, caring man. He was always cheerful and smiley. Dad was a devoted Grandad and loved spending time with Grandchildren as much as they loved and cherished spending time with him.
Dad will be dearly missed by all of us, one fond memory that turns into lots of memories were his brer rabbit stories that he told Matthew and myself as children to make our bedtimes happier, more often than not we got more excited rather than calm down.

Dad would tell us stories of the adventures we had, had that day but retell them as if brer rabbit had done the adventures. Dad will always be remembered for these stories always funny and lots of laughs.
Dad was a tough man and a fighter till the end, always keeping positive and looking forward to the future.
We already miss you loads Dad, and have all be so sad that we couldn’t see you or be with you in the last few weeks. We all love you very much.

Matthew and Catherine ..xxx..

I remember all our laughs when playing card and board games. Especially when Adam and myself showed Grandad UNO and he kept winning. He got a bit excited over winning and threw all his cards across the hospital table. I remember his reaction as just a pure laugh of joy. We all laughed too.
Zoe ..xxx..

I remember helping Grandad plant daffodils at the bungalow when I was much, much younger. We were both sat down on the grass digging up the soil together. I also remember sleeping round their house that night, and drinking tea from Grandads meerkat mug and playing bingo in the lounge.
Adam ..xxx..

I remember grandad giving me super snuggles in his arm chair and me reading to him in his bed.
Alfie xxx