Henry “Wayne” Baker, 86, Luverne, died Monday, April 11, 2022, at the Sanford Luverne Hospice Cottage surrounded by his family.
Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 14, at the Hartquist Funeral Home in Luverne. A funeral service will be at 1:30 p.m. Friday, April 15, at the American Reformed Church in Luverne. Burial will follow at Memory Gardens Cemetery near Luverne.
Henry “Wayne” Baker was born May 15, 1935, to Joe and Edna (Vander Haar) Baker on the family farm in Rock County. He was baptized into the faith at the Steen Reformed Church in Steen. He grew up on the family farm by Luverne and attended Country School District #4. He attended one year of high school at Luverne High School before leaving school to work on the farm after his father suffered a farming accident.
Wayne enlisted in the National Guard and served with the Luverne unit for the next nine years. He was honorably discharged in 1962.
In addition to farming the land, Wayne and his father were partners in raising turkeys and laying hens for several years.
On April 24, 1959, Wayne married Margie Miersma at the Valley Springs Reformed Church in Valley Springs, South Dakota. The couple first settled on a farm near Luverne and then moved to Leota in 1973. Wayne farmed and worked at Tinklenberg Lumber and also did some truck driving for several individuals in the area.
After retiring in 2005, Wayne and Margie moved back to Luverne.
Wayne was a charter member of the American Reformed Church in Luverne and was a member of the Bethel Reformed Church in Leota while the family lived there. Wayne served as a deacon and elder at both churches. He attended men’s Bible study and belonged to a local Bible study group of couples. Wayne volunteered at Justice for All and was a school greeter at Luverne Public Schools. He really enjoyed attending his grandchildren’s sporting and school activities, and he loved taking drives through the countryside to look at the crops.
Wayne is survived by his wife of 62 years, Margie Baker of Luverne; son Brent Baker of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; daughter Beth (Kenneth) Allerton of Luverne; three grandchildren, Markus (Kora), Kelly, and Brandon Staeffler; nine great-grandchildren; two sisters, Nelva Baker of Orange City, Iowa, and Lorraine (Sid) Jiskoot of Sioux Center, Iowa; sisters and brothers-in-law Morla Baker of St. Louis Park, Janice Vink of Luverne, Shirley (Wally) Kienast of Rapid City, South Dakota, and Dennis (Judy) Miersma of Valley Springs, South Dakota; and other relatives and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents; parents-in-law Paul and Jennie Miersma; brother Donald Baker; and a brother-in-law, James Vink.
Arrangements are provided by Hartquist Funeral Home of Luverne, hartquistfuneral.com.
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