Folsom Funeral Service

Joseph N. Baker, Jr., a resident of Medfield for the past eight years, and formerly of Westwood (for almost fifty years) and of Great Barrington, died Sunday, September 23rd, 2012 at his home in Medfield.  He was 87.  Joseph was born November 19, 1924 in New York City, New York, the son of Joseph N. and Mary (Gallagher) Baker.  He attended Great Barrington High School until the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1942 when he joined the US Navy.  He was stationed on the USS Sperry, a submarine tender, and on the USS Sculpin, a sargo class submarine that saw action in the South China Sea and the Asiatic Pacific.  On Joseph’s 19th birthday the Sculpin came under a withering depth charge attack from the Japanese destroyer Yamagumo which crippled the sub.  The Sculpin was abandoned and scuttled and the 41 survivors were picked up by the Yamagumo.  After questioning for ten days at the Japanese naval base at Truk Joseph was sent to the Ashio copper mines for the duration of the war until he was liberted from the Japanese prisoner of war camp after VJ Day. He was awarded the Purple Heart.  After the war Joseph finished high school at the Bullis School in Silver Springs, Maryland and earned his Bachelor degree from Dartmouth College.  He started his working career as a banker at the First National Bank of Boston and then at the State Street Bank.  In 1980 he started his own executive search company, JNB Associates, which he ran for twenty years until his retirement in 2000.  Joseph was a member of Orient Lodge AF & AM of Norwood; of Mahded Grotto Shrine in Wilmington; of the Disabled American Veterans; and of the Braeburn Country Club.  Joseph is survived by his wife of 63 years, Anna Louise (Zabaunik) Baker, and his daughter, Pamela Millard, and her husband John, of Dover.  He was the father of the late Kevin M. Baker and the brother of the late Dorothy McGraw.  Relatives and friends are invited to attend his Memorial Service with military honors Saturday September 29th at 11 AM at the Allin Congregational Church, 683 High Street, Dedham.  Interment will be private.  In lieu of flowers donations to the Wounded Warrior Project, PO Box 758517, Topeka, Kansas, 66675 or to the charity of your choice would be appreciated.

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