James Emerson (Jim) Baker, 69, of Saint Simmons Island, Georgia, died March 17, 2008.
Born in Michigan in 1938, the son of Emerson and Vivian Baker, he also lived in Ohio, Mississippi, and Florida before his family settled in Tucker, Georgia in 1949. He graduated from Tucker High School, Oxford College in 1958, Emory University in 1960, and Emory University School of Law in 1963.
While in law school he served as Director of Debate for Emory University. In addition, he was the Georgia Director of the Civilian Health and Medical Program for Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS).
Upon graduating he accepted a commission in the U.S. Army. During his five years of active duty he served in Washington, D.C.; Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Fort Campbell, Kentucky; The Judge Advocate General’s School, Charlottesville, Virginia; Vietnam, and Fort M cPherson, Georgia. He was a graduate of the U.S. Army’s Military Judge Course; the four-week General Jurisdiction Course at the National Judicial College; and the National Defense University.
Upon release from active duty he immediately joined the active Army Reserve, where he served for another 21 years until he transferred to the Retired Reserve in 1989. He was promoted from lieutenant to full colonel.
His dozen military decorations include the Bronze Star for his actions while serving in Vietnam.
In civilian life he served as an Assistant District Attorney in Dekalb County, Georgia, before joining the federal government in 1972 as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney with the Office for Drug Abuse Law Enforcement. In 1974 he became an Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) in Atlanta.
In 1977 he was promoted to Chief of the Criminal Division and during 1981 and 1982 he was the court-appointed United States Attorney. Subsequently he reverted to his status as an AUSA and was one of 12 government attorneys selected nation-wide to serve as Temporary Federal Immigration Judges for up to two years. In 1987 he was selected to serve as the U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for United States Attorneys legal representative at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco (Brunswick), Georgia. There he developed and taught criminal law courses.
In 1996 he was appointed to serve as Chief of the Legal Division at FLETC. He retired from government service in 1998 but continued to teach criminal justice courses for Troy University as well as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
During his career he taught criminal law to more than 20,000 federal, state and local law enforcement agents and criminal justice students.
Married in 1964, he is survived by his wife, Sharon; a son, Paul, Roswell, Georgia; a daughter, Alison, and two grandsons, Kyle and Keith, all of Saint Simons Island, Georgia; and a nephew, Joe Scarborough, Schoolcraft, Michigan. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 22, 2008, at Wesley United Methodist Church at Frederica. The memorial will be followed by a graveside service in Atlanta, GA. in April. Contributions to the Hospice of the Golden Isles, 1692 Glynco Parkway, Brunswick, GA 31525. Edo Miller Funeral Home.
Published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on 3/20/2008.
I’ve known The Colonel (I never called him Mr. Baker or Jim after he was promoted to Colonel), and I never once heard him talk about nor did I know that he won the Bronze Star.
The obituary fails to mention (for some reason I’m sure) that The Colonel also spent a couple of years in the late 80’s and early 90’s where he would lecture Congress and some congressional committees about terrorism.
I am proud to say that I considered this man both a friend and family to me. I will miss him.
What say you?