Ted Baker, Register-Guard publisher and philanthropist, dies at 97

Ted Baker, seen here in 2017, was awarded the Bronze State and Purple Heart during World War II as the only survivor of a Japanese grenade attack on Bougainville Island in the South Pacific on March 10, 1944.

By Adam Duvernay
The Register-Guard

Edwin “Ted” Baker — World War II veteran, philanthropist, publisher of The Register-Guard and a son of the newspaper’s founder — died Friday morning at the age of 97.

He was one of many from the Baker family who played a longtime leadership role at The Register-Guard, founded in 1930 after his father, Alton Baker Sr., bought and merged Eugene’s existing newspapers. He was The Register-Guard’s general manager between 1961 and 1982 and then served as the newspaper’s publisher between 1982 and 1987.

Baker was chairman of the board of directors for Guard Publishing Co., the former parent organization of The Register-Guard, following his time as the paper’s publisher.

He served in the Pacific theater of WWII, where he was wounded in a Japanese attack for which he later received the Purple Heart. He returned to Eugene in the fall of 1944.

“The biggest key to understanding him is his war experience,” said his daughter, Bridget Baker Kincaid. “He was wounded, near death and behind enemy lines for three days. He made a vow to God that if God got him out of it, he would devote his life to serving and caring for others. And, to me, that’s what he did.”

Ted Baker was a prolific fundraiser for institutions such as the United Way, the Eugene Public Library, the University of Oregon and the Hult Center for the Performing Arts.

“He led, at United Way, all kinds of capital campaigns to make our community a much better and stronger community, and he did it with grace, with humility, and was always there with a quick smile and supportive attitude. He would never give up,” said Gerry Gaydos, a longtime friend and a fundraising partner. “People knew if Ted was on a project, it was going to be successful. He wouldn’t let anybody down, and he never did.”

The Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce in 1982 named Baker as Eugene First Citizen, a designation awarded by the chamber each year to individuals who have made “outstanding contributions to the community through business and community service.”

Baker was born Dec. 20, 1923, in Cleveland to Alton and Mildred Baker. He had four siblings: Alton F. “Bunky” Baker Jr. (who served as publisher of The Register-Guard from 1961-1982), Louise Baker Little, Dr. Herbert Baker and Richard A. Baker.

Ted Baker was an Eagle Scout and stayed involved in the Boy Scouts throughout his life. Baker was the recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, given to Eagle Scouts who achieved distinction in their fields and communities 25 years after earning the rank.

Ted Baker’s first wife, Patricia Baker, died of cancer in 1983. Marie Baker, his second wife and another partner in his local philanthropic activities, died at the age of 93 in May.

“They were just tireless,” said Jan Aho, who became executive director of the Pearl Buck Center while the Bakers were leading a capital campaign for the nonprofit. “When Marie had her stroke, I went to the hospital and visited them. What I was struck by is what a team they were. He was such an attentive and kind and generous husband with Marie.”

Ted and Patricia Baker had three children together: Bridget, Amanda and Jonathan. Marie Baker’s children became his stepchildren when they married.

His last surviving brother, the now-retired Dr. Herbert Baker, was at Ted Baker’s bedside before he died.

“He’s had a great life. He went through hell in the war, but he made it out,” Herbert Baker said. “He was a real leader in this community, and I am sure he will be sorely missed.”

Ted Baker, in 1943, was a 20-year-old University of Oregon student when he registered for the U.S. Army’s Enlisted Reserve Corps, the precursor to the U.S. Army Reserves. He was dug in for three days on Bougainville Island in the South Pacific in March 1944 before the Japanese attacked. Three soldiers alongside him died in the ensuing combat.

“So, now, all three of these guys are dead. And they squirted some gasoline in, and then they threw a heat-burning grenade. But I was not going to stay in there and burn to death,” Ted Baker told The Register-Guard in 2017 about his part in the battle. “I had multiple burns, second- and third- degree burns, but I was outside (the dugout). While I was out there, a Japanese (soldier) started walking up, and I think he pointed his rifle at me and I think he fired, but he missed. He didn’t hit me. And then somebody shot him.”

Baker was wounded and alone for three days before other Americans rescued him. He would spend months inside multiple hospitals before he finally returned to Eugene.

Baker would be awarded the Bronze Star for his service in that battle.

“He was a war hero,” said his nephew, Mark Baker, the former Register-Guard reporter who helped assemble veterans’ stories in 2017. “I always found him to be an amazing person, knowing he had gone through that and he had suffered nightmares for years, and he not only made something out of his life, but became a leader at the newspaper.”

Ted Baker’s oath of service in the wake of his war experience lasted a lifetime, and his willingness to give his time and energy was not restricted to formal fundraising efforts.

“He cared so deeply about the people around him, both at the paper and the community and certainly at the church,” said Rev. Jonathan Morgan of the First Congregational Church of Eugene. “Whenever he would give, it was on behalf of the other person. He didn’t do it for his own satisfaction. He enjoyed bringing light into someone else’s life.”

A joint memorial service for Ted and Marie Baker is being planned for the fall. In lieu of flowers, donations in Ted Baker’s memory can be made to the Boy Scouts of America, the Pearl Buck Center or the United Way.