Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Newspaper article about Al Bakers death - 6/21/20066AGAN
Al Baker, who owned
several restaurants
south of the river
Apparently, retirement
wasn't enough to keep Al Bak-
er from his restaurant.
Baker and his wife, Donna,
sold the restaurant in 2003, but
they still ate there up to three
times a week, Donna said.
"He loved having people
come in and have fun and en-
joy his place," she said. "He
missed it a lot."
Baker, 68, died of colon can-
cer on June 4. Born and raised
near Rochester, N.Y., Baker
moved to Minnesota to work
for 3M after graduating from
the University of Rochester.
In 1967, he started work-
ing for his father-in-law at
Howard Wong's restaurant
in Bloomington. In 1981 he
opened the Ground Round in
Burnsville, and four years later
opened Al Baker's in Eagan.
"He just loved people to
have fun and eat," Donna said.
"He just loved being around
people, and building up loy-
al guests."
Michelle Saunders worked
for Baker starting in 1993. She
describedhim as an "ahnighty
kind of guy" who liked to have
fun.
"He would walk into the
bar and see a group of people
laughing, and a smile would
just come across his face,"
Saunders said. "He loved to
see people having fun:'
In 2003, Donna and Al
decided to sell Al Baker's
so they could spend more
time at their house in Arizo-
na The day they announced
they were selling the restau-
rant, Saunders said, was a sad
one. "We met on the patio, and
many tears were shed, includ-
ing some from Al."
Baker also loved fishing,
golfing and pheasant hunting.
And he loved to sing" Don-
na Baker said. "He was a tenor
and we used to harmonize to-
gether when there was a tune
on the radio. And he loved to
dance:'
Baker was preceded in
death by his father, Jay C. Bak-
er. He is survived by his wife,
Donna, mother, Beatrice, chil-
dren, Bonnie Smith, Jean
McLaughlin, Chris Baker and
Kim Ahern, and eight grand-
children.
The family held a memori-
al mass for Baker on June 10
at the Church of St. John Neu-
mann in Eagan.
"The funeral was very light
and uplifting," Donna Bak-
er said. "If you could call a
funeral happy, it was a won-
derful, happy celebration of
his life:'
EMILY JOHNS