Lonnie Dee Baker, 58, passed away unexpectedly at home in Colorado Springs, Colorado on July 6, 2015. He was born June 16, 1957, in Walsenburg, Colorado to Gail and George E. Baker.
He is survived by his wife of 34 years Shelley D. (Gramera), daughters Brittany Nicole and Brianne Lindsay and her husband Shepperd Hudgins, mother Gail Baker Major, sister Julie Carter, brothers Bruce Baker and Jim Baker. Nephews Ryan Baker, Scott Gough, Justin Baker, C.J. Baker, Chance Baker, Lane Carter and nieces Tricia VanEgmond, Teri Kerstiens, Tonya Moore and Brynner Baker. He is also survived by numerous aunts, uncles and many cousins.
He is preceded in death by his father George, step-father Duncan Major, his grandparents Frank and Stella Baker and grandparents Beth and David Firm.
Lonnie attended grade school in Westcliffe, Colorado followed by a short time in Franklin, Kentucky and then Big Timber, Montana where he graduated from high school in 1975.
On July 5, 1980, Lonnie walked into a honky tonk in Littleton, Colorado (fondly recalled as "The Horny Toad") where that night he met the girl he would marry. He told his brother that very night, "I think I could fall in love with that girl," and a month later he proposed to the tall, beautiful Shelley Gramera. They were married May 23, 1981 and on their 10th Anniversary they renewed those vows.
Lonnie worked in all aspects of the construction industry throughout his life, working his way through the ranks to where he was for the last ten years as a project superintendent for Archer Western. Lonnie worked construction projects in states all over the West, including Alaska, California, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.
During his career journey, Lonnie never forgot what it was like to be the "new kid" on the job and those that took the time to teach and mentor him. He carried on that legacy by teaching others that worked in his crews the advantages of team work and working "with" not "for" and finding the value in daily achievements to reach bigger goals. He was about "getting the job done and done safely." He never asked anyone to do anything that he wouldn't do himself. He mentored countless others the same way that he'd been brought through the industry, leaving behind him a construction family that honor and love him.
Lonnie lived his life boldly with focused determination for those things he loved - God, family and country. He was an avid outdoorsman that found joy as his did his forefathers in the mountains and wide open spaces. He was a hunter, fisherman but loved the open road with the other love of his life, Shania -his Harley Davidson motorcycle. On his arm wherever he went besides work, was his little Cocoa, the tiny fluff "designer" dog that adored Lonnie and vice versa creating a very incongruous image but revealed the tender heart of the big man.
Sunday dinners with his family was his favorite as he wielded exceptional cooking skills as well as he did everything else in life. "Mr. Fix It" was an expert wood worker and could design and build whatever he put his mind to including numerous pieces of furniture that will forever be family heirlooms.
Lonnie loved his small town, hometown roots and took great joy in returning to those places to enjoy the memories and lifelong friends. Moving back to Colorado to live two years ago, he found a renewed passion for spending time in the places his father and grandfather and Baker generations before them walked, worked and lived. His joy was in the simple things offered by those memories of where he shot his first deer or where he fished with those men that established the very foundation of who he became as man.
It is those things -good, honest, family values and solid living that he leaves behind for his family to treasure into the next generations.
A viewing will be held Sunday, July 12, 2015 at the Swan Law Funeral Directions, 501 N Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, Colorado. (1-2 p.m for family, 2-5 for public). A graveside service will be held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, July 14, 2015 at the Rosita Cemetery (Westcliffe, Colorado), Kevin Weatherby presiding.
He is survived by his wife of 34 years Shelley D. (Gramera), daughters Brittany Nicole and Brianne Lindsay and her husband Shepperd Hudgins, mother Gail Baker Major, sister Julie Carter, brothers Bruce Baker and Jim Baker. Nephews Ryan Baker, Scott Gough, Justin Baker, C.J. Baker, Chance Baker, Lane Carter and nieces Tricia VanEgmond, Teri Kerstiens, Tonya Moore and Brynner Baker. He is also survived by numerous aunts, uncles and many cousins.
He is preceded in death by his father George, step-father Duncan Major, his grandparents Frank and Stella Baker and grandparents Beth and David Firm.
Lonnie attended grade school in Westcliffe, Colorado followed by a short time in Franklin, Kentucky and then Big Timber, Montana where he graduated from high school in 1975.
On July 5, 1980, Lonnie walked into a honky tonk in Littleton, Colorado (fondly recalled as "The Horny Toad") where that night he met the girl he would marry. He told his brother that very night, "I think I could fall in love with that girl," and a month later he proposed to the tall, beautiful Shelley Gramera. They were married May 23, 1981 and on their 10th Anniversary they renewed those vows.
Lonnie worked in all aspects of the construction industry throughout his life, working his way through the ranks to where he was for the last ten years as a project superintendent for Archer Western. Lonnie worked construction projects in states all over the West, including Alaska, California, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.
During his career journey, Lonnie never forgot what it was like to be the "new kid" on the job and those that took the time to teach and mentor him. He carried on that legacy by teaching others that worked in his crews the advantages of team work and working "with" not "for" and finding the value in daily achievements to reach bigger goals. He was about "getting the job done and done safely." He never asked anyone to do anything that he wouldn't do himself. He mentored countless others the same way that he'd been brought through the industry, leaving behind him a construction family that honor and love him.
Lonnie lived his life boldly with focused determination for those things he loved - God, family and country. He was an avid outdoorsman that found joy as his did his forefathers in the mountains and wide open spaces. He was a hunter, fisherman but loved the open road with the other love of his life, Shania -his Harley Davidson motorcycle. On his arm wherever he went besides work, was his little Cocoa, the tiny fluff "designer" dog that adored Lonnie and vice versa creating a very incongruous image but revealed the tender heart of the big man.
Sunday dinners with his family was his favorite as he wielded exceptional cooking skills as well as he did everything else in life. "Mr. Fix It" was an expert wood worker and could design and build whatever he put his mind to including numerous pieces of furniture that will forever be family heirlooms.
Lonnie loved his small town, hometown roots and took great joy in returning to those places to enjoy the memories and lifelong friends. Moving back to Colorado to live two years ago, he found a renewed passion for spending time in the places his father and grandfather and Baker generations before them walked, worked and lived. His joy was in the simple things offered by those memories of where he shot his first deer or where he fished with those men that established the very foundation of who he became as man.
It is those things -good, honest, family values and solid living that he leaves behind for his family to treasure into the next generations.
A viewing will be held Sunday, July 12, 2015 at the Swan Law Funeral Directions, 501 N Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, Colorado. (1-2 p.m for family, 2-5 for public). A graveside service will be held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, July 14, 2015 at the Rosita Cemetery (Westcliffe, Colorado), Kevin Weatherby presiding.
Lonnie Dee Baker, 58, passed away unexpectedly at home in Colorado Springs, Colorado on July 6, 2015. He was born June 16, 1957, in Walsenburg, Colorado to Gail and George E. Baker.
He is survived by his wife of 34 years Shelley D. (Gramera), daughters Brittany Nicole and Brianne Lindsay and her husband Shepperd Hudgins, mother Gail Baker Major, sister Julie Carter, brothers Bruce Baker and Jim Baker. Nephews Ryan Baker, Scott Gough, Justin Baker, C.J. Baker, Chance Baker, Lane Carter and nieces Tricia VanEgmond, Teri Kerstiens, Tonya Moore and Brynner Baker. He is also survived by numerous aunts, uncles and many cousins.
He is preceded in death by his father George, step-father Duncan Major, his grandparents Frank and Stella Baker and grandparents Beth and David Firm.
Lonnie attended grade school in Westcliffe, Colorado followed by a short time in Franklin, Kentucky and then Big Timber, Montana where he graduated from high school in 1975.
On July 5, 1980, Lonnie walked into a honky tonk in Littleton, Colorado (fondly recalled as "The Horny Toad") where that night he met the girl he would marry. He told his brother that very night, "I think I could fall in love with that girl," and a month later he proposed to the tall, beautiful Shelley Gramera. They were married May 23, 1981 and on their 10th Anniversary they renewed those vows.
Lonnie worked in all aspects of the construction industry throughout his life, working his way through the ranks to where he was for the last ten years as a project superintendent for Archer Western. Lonnie worked construction projects in states all over the West, including Alaska, California, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.
During his career journey, Lonnie never forgot what it was like to be the "new kid" on the job and those that took the time to teach and mentor him. He carried on that legacy by teaching others that worked in his crews the advantages of team work and working "with" not "for" and finding the value in daily achievements to reach bigger goals. He was about "getting the job done and done safely." He never asked anyone to do anything that he wouldn't do himself. He mentored countless others the same way that he'd been brought through the industry, leaving behind him a construction family that honor and love him.
Lonnie lived his life boldly with focused determination for those things he loved - God, family and country. He was an avid outdoorsman that found joy as his did his forefathers in the mountains and wide open spaces. He was a hunter, fisherman but loved the open road with the other love of his life, Shania -his Harley Davidson motorcycle. On his arm wherever he went besides work, was his little Cocoa, the tiny fluff "designer" dog that adored Lonnie and vice versa creating a very incongruous image but revealed the tender heart of the big man.
Sunday dinners with his family was his favorite as he wielded exceptional cooking skills as well as he did everything else in life. "Mr. Fix It" was an expert wood worker and could design and build whatever he put his mind to including numerous pieces of furniture that will forever be family heirlooms.
Lonnie loved his small town, hometown roots and took great joy in returning to those places to enjoy the memories and lifelong friends. Moving back to Colorado to live two years ago, he found a renewed passion for spending time in the places his father and grandfather and Baker generations before them walked, worked and lived. His joy was in the simple things offered by those memories of where he shot his first deer or where he fished with those men that established the very foundation of who he became as man.
It is those things -good, honest, family values and solid living that he leaves behind for his family to treasure into the next generations.
A viewing will be held Sunday, July 12, 2015 at the Swan Law Funeral Directions, 501 N Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, Colorado. (1-2 p.m for family, 2-5 for public). A graveside service will be held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, July 14, 2015 at the Rosita Cemetery (Westcliffe, Colorado), Kevin Weatherby presiding.
He is survived by his wife of 34 years Shelley D. (Gramera), daughters Brittany Nicole and Brianne Lindsay and her husband Shepperd Hudgins, mother Gail Baker Major, sister Julie Carter, brothers Bruce Baker and Jim Baker. Nephews Ryan Baker, Scott Gough, Justin Baker, C.J. Baker, Chance Baker, Lane Carter and nieces Tricia VanEgmond, Teri Kerstiens, Tonya Moore and Brynner Baker. He is also survived by numerous aunts, uncles and many cousins.
He is preceded in death by his father George, step-father Duncan Major, his grandparents Frank and Stella Baker and grandparents Beth and David Firm.
Lonnie attended grade school in Westcliffe, Colorado followed by a short time in Franklin, Kentucky and then Big Timber, Montana where he graduated from high school in 1975.
On July 5, 1980, Lonnie walked into a honky tonk in Littleton, Colorado (fondly recalled as "The Horny Toad") where that night he met the girl he would marry. He told his brother that very night, "I think I could fall in love with that girl," and a month later he proposed to the tall, beautiful Shelley Gramera. They were married May 23, 1981 and on their 10th Anniversary they renewed those vows.
Lonnie worked in all aspects of the construction industry throughout his life, working his way through the ranks to where he was for the last ten years as a project superintendent for Archer Western. Lonnie worked construction projects in states all over the West, including Alaska, California, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.
During his career journey, Lonnie never forgot what it was like to be the "new kid" on the job and those that took the time to teach and mentor him. He carried on that legacy by teaching others that worked in his crews the advantages of team work and working "with" not "for" and finding the value in daily achievements to reach bigger goals. He was about "getting the job done and done safely." He never asked anyone to do anything that he wouldn't do himself. He mentored countless others the same way that he'd been brought through the industry, leaving behind him a construction family that honor and love him.
Lonnie lived his life boldly with focused determination for those things he loved - God, family and country. He was an avid outdoorsman that found joy as his did his forefathers in the mountains and wide open spaces. He was a hunter, fisherman but loved the open road with the other love of his life, Shania -his Harley Davidson motorcycle. On his arm wherever he went besides work, was his little Cocoa, the tiny fluff "designer" dog that adored Lonnie and vice versa creating a very incongruous image but revealed the tender heart of the big man.
Sunday dinners with his family was his favorite as he wielded exceptional cooking skills as well as he did everything else in life. "Mr. Fix It" was an expert wood worker and could design and build whatever he put his mind to including numerous pieces of furniture that will forever be family heirlooms.
Lonnie loved his small town, hometown roots and took great joy in returning to those places to enjoy the memories and lifelong friends. Moving back to Colorado to live two years ago, he found a renewed passion for spending time in the places his father and grandfather and Baker generations before them walked, worked and lived. His joy was in the simple things offered by those memories of where he shot his first deer or where he fished with those men that established the very foundation of who he became as man.
It is those things -good, honest, family values and solid living that he leaves behind for his family to treasure into the next generations.
A viewing will be held Sunday, July 12, 2015 at the Swan Law Funeral Directions, 501 N Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, Colorado. (1-2 p.m for family, 2-5 for public). A graveside service will be held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, July 14, 2015 at the Rosita Cemetery (Westcliffe, Colorado), Kevin Weatherby presiding.
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