Obituary of Thomas E. Baker
~~Thomas E. Baker, born January 11, 1931 in South Bend, Indiana to William R. and Ruth S. Baker, passed away on May 18, 2017, in Houston, Texas. He was preceded in death by his wife, the former Mary Katharine Nunes; parents; brother, William R. Baker, Jr.; sister, Patricia B. Kinney; and his sons, Peter C. Baker and Thomas E. Baker, Jr.
Tom is survived by his daughters, Mary R. Baker (Robert Strange) of Newton, Massachusetts, and Anne
E. Baker (John Katinos) of Brooklyn, New York; sons, William R. Baker III (Olivia) of Washington D.C. and John J. Baker (Lori) of McAllen, Texas; daughter-in-law, Laura M. Baker of Corpus Christi, Texas; grandchildren, Emily, Christopher and Molly Strange; Zoe, Sophia and Isabelle Katinos; Mary, Hal and Elizabeth Baker; Anna Krisztina and Frances Baker; and Charles, Julia and Madeline Baker; as well as 30 nieces and nephews.
Tom was a 1953 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where he received a B.S. in Commerce. Following graduation, he was commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy, and served in the Pacific during the Korean War. Following discharge from active service, he served in the United States Naval Reserve, until retiring as a Lieutenant Commander in 1971.
While serving on a destroyer in the Atlantic Fleet, Tom’s ship visited Naval Station Newport (Rhode Is.) where he met Mary Nunes. Tom and Mary were married in Newport on June 30, 1956. After marriage, and working briefly as a certified public accountant, Tom graduated from Georgetown University Law School with a Juris Doctor in 1960. Subsequently, he later earned an LLM from Georgetown in 1961 and an LLM in Taxation from New York University in 1965. After law school, he joined Shell Oil Company, where he worked in a variety of legal positions, first in New York and then in Houston. While living in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, he was elected to serve as Trustee of the Village.
Tom retired from Shell as Secretary of the Corporation in 1991. In retirement, he returned to school, attending the University of St. Thomas, where in 1992, he received an M.A. in Theology. He also continued to practice law in a variety of capacities, including advising several energy companies in Houston and serving as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association.
In the mid-1990s, through the International Executive Service Corps, Tom and Mary lived in Eastern Europe, first in Prague and then in Vilnius, advising the Czech and Lithuanian governments on privatization of state owned assets. He also served as a Eucharistic Minister at Holy Cross Chapel and at Methodist Hospital.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 am, Thursday, May 25, 2017 at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, 1111 St. Joseph Parkway in Houston, Texas.
The Rite of Committal will take place later this year at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia.
Donations may be made to Holy Cross Chapel, 905 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77002-6408, Catholic Charities or the charity of your choice.
