Jay Glaze Baker

Maryville - Jay Glaze Baker, 88, of Maryville, passed from this life on Friday, February, 29, 2008 at the Cameron Regional Medical Center.

Born on November 24, 1919, to Joye Irene Glaze and Hall Barney Baker in their farm home near Cainsville, Missouri, Jay graduated from Northwest Missouri State Teachers College in 1941, majoring in Business and Mathematics, with the highest academic ranking for four years.

Jay owned and operated Maryville Typewriter Exchange, joining his father-in-law in the family business in 1946. Now known as MTE Office Center, the company is owned and operated by his son, Roger Baker, continuing the family tradition for more than 80 years, serving Northwest Missouri and Southwest Iowa with quality office equipment and supplies. The Maryville Chamber of Commerce also recognized Jay as "Boss of the Year".

Jay Baker served in the United States Air Force during World War II as a flight engineer and navigator on B-29s, honorably discharged as a Second Lieutenant in 1945.

Surviving children from his deceased wife, Betty Jayne Tarpley, are his daughter, Vicki Baker and her partner Willie Rickel of Kansas City, and his son, Roger Baker, his wife, Susan, and their three children, Elizabeth, Jessica and Jonathan, all of Maryville.
His current wife, Audrey Minnis White Baker and her son, Craig White, his wife, Julie, and their children, Andrea and Hayley of Liberty, Missouri, survive Jay. Many extended family members of the Rickel and Minnis families also survive Jay.

As a sixty-year member of the Nodaway Masonic Lodge 470 A.F. and A.M., the Edward Gray American Legion Post #100 Maryville, the VFW and a lifetime member of the NWMSU Alumni Association, Jay was an ardent Bearcat fan and sports enthusiast. Serving on the original St. Francis Hospital Foundation Board for more than 25 years, Jay was also a dedicated Shriner and member of the congregation of the First Baptist Church of Maryville.

Visitation will be at the Danfelt Funeral Home, Maryville on Monday evening, March 3, 2008, from 6:30 to 8:30 P.M. Graveside Services will be at Nodaway Memorial Gardens at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, March 4. A Celebration of the Life for Jay Baker will follow at the First Baptist Church of Maryville, 121 East Jenkins, one block east of Main Street, at 11 A.M.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Building Fund of the First Baptist Church.
Online condolences and tributes may be left by visiting www.danfeltfuneralhome.com