Dr. James "Jim" Carson Baker
Dr. James “Jim” Carson Baker
Dr. James "Jim" Carson Baker, of Blacksburg, VA passed away peacefully on August 19th, 2025 at the age of 88 with his family at his bedside.
He is survived by his three children Michael Seaton Baker and wife Amy Elizabeth Myers of Arlington Heights, IL, Margaret Baker Gearhart and husband Terry Gearhart of Mebane, NC, Martha Lee Baker and partner Christopher Barrett Huff of Blacksburg, VA, and grandchildren Jacob and Anna Gearhart, and Eva Matuszak. He is also survived by his brother, John Joseph Baker and his wife Karen Pennycuick Baker of Excelsior Springs, MO, and his sister, Mary Ola Baker Foreman and her husband Robert Ray Foreman of Springfield, MO.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 66 years, Lois Jeanie Jefferson Baker, and his parents James Virgil Baker and Margaret Anne Toomay Baker from Braymer, MO.
Jim grew up hunting and fishing the streams, ponds, and woods of his family farm south of Braymer. He played the tuba, played football, ran the hurdles, and was the president of his class. He married his high school sweetheart Lois Jeanie Jefferson in 1957 and attended the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO where he earned a Bachelor's of Agriculture in 1959 and began mapping soils.
He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army's 30th Artillery Regiment, where he earned a Marksman designation for pistol and rifle.
He went on to earn his Master's in Soils (1967) and his PhD in Agronomy (1978) from the University of Missouri, during which time all three children were born.
He moved the family to Blacksburg, VA and Virginia Tech where he taught soils, conducted research, and managed the Virginia Tech Soil Survey for 30 years until he retired in 2008 as Professor Emeritus of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences.
While his gift for storytelling and razor-sharp wit sent nephews, nieces, and grandchildren into fits of laughter, he was also respected and well-regarded by his colleagues and graduate students as a calm source of wisdom and perseverance during stressful times.
His financial frugality resulted in one of his life's crowning achievements: putting all three kids through college with zero debt.
His ear for music was partly responsible for his ability to identify 72 bird species from their song alone.
He loved to fish, whether the Missouri, Colorado, or New River or his favorite, the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where he and his colleagues caught bluefish that filled up a pickup bed three layers deep.
He loved homestyle cooking from farm, field, and stream. He raised vegetables in two massive gardens he tended on marginal land. His barbecued chicken on the 4th of July was as eagerly anticipated as his oysters Rockefeller, seafood gumbo, and a bowl of his beef vegetable soup during a cold winter's night.
After retirement, he and Jeanie joined the community at Warm Hearth Village in Blacksburg, VA. They established long-standing friendships with neighbors at Woodside Terrace and Showalter Center. He will always be remembered by the WHV community for his friendly face, red suspenders, and the pens in his shirt pocket.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the James C. Baker Community Garden Fund care of the Philanthropy Department at Warm Hearth Village at 2387 Warm Hearth Drive, Blacksburg VA 24060. The Garden Fund was established by Jim and his family in 2025 to promote the love of gardening for the community at Warm Hearth.
