Donald Newell Baker, Sr., passed away at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney, Nebraska, July 5, 2024.
He was born Dec. 19, 1933, three and a half miles east of Purdum, Nebraska, in his grandad Sam White’s house, to Doran Nolan and Blanche Elizabeth (White) Baker. The house was a Sears and Roebuck house that his grandad White had hauled from Halsey with a team and wagon. Ryman Bros put it together in 1913.
At the age of 13, he trav-eled by train with his younger sister Alma and younger brother Ted to Chicago, changing trains twice. His step-grandmother met them in Chicago and took them to Indiana. They lived there two years, then moved back to Alliance, Nebraska, where he attended his ninth and tenth years of schooling. He lived in Alliance when the blizzard of 1948-49 hit. He said he never made more money, wind kept blowing snow around and he shoveled walks and driveways for days. He attended Broken Bow School his eleventh grade, where he made lifelong friends with Lavern Coleman and Dr. Loren Jacobsen.
He married Roscella M. Snyder June 12, 1955. To this union four children were born, Christine, Donald Jr., Pamela and Samuel.
On Feb. 24, 1978, he married Donna Hite. At the time of his death they had been married 46 years.
His working years were spent on ranches and driving truck. He drove truck til he was 78. He had helped his wife deliver mail up to a year ago.
Don and Donna had made their home in Brewster, Nebraska, for 27 years, buying his mother’s house after her death.
Don was preceded in death by his parents Doran and Blanche, step-father Dan Norris, sisters Alma and Beverly and brother Ted and their spouses, step-brothers Jerry and Dan Jr. and step-sister Ruth Ann.
Don is survived by wife Donna, children Christine Sittler (Marty Riddle) of Mullen, Donald Jr (Jeanine) Baker of Brewster, Pamela (Cecil) Coons of Mullen and Samuel (Sherri) of North Platte, step-children William (Tonya) Spiegel of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Clinton Spiegel of Omaha, 11 grandchildren, 4 step-grandchildren, and numerous greatand great-great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were held July 9, 2024, at the Brewster Community Center. Burial followed in the Brewster Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to the local Brewster organization of your choice.
Govier Brothers Mortuary was in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be left at www.govierbrothers. com.