You can call what follows syrupy or saccherine if you must, but be aware that it's all true....

Mr. Baker


A lot of boys used to dream of being firefighters, or pilots, or cowboys. Mr. Baker had a different ambition. As a boy he wanted to become a pharmacist and open his own drug store. When he got out of school he went on to do just that. He’s been running a pharmacy for over fifty years now, most of them right here in our town.

He doesn’t still actually own the drug store. A couple of years ago he sold out to a family from a neighboring county who have bought up several local pharmacies to form a small regional chain. But he still works there, and it’s pretty much still his place. Go inside and chances are you’ll see him there in back in his pharmacist’s jacket. He’ll say hello and ask how you’re doing and how your family are. He always knows your name. On the fortunately rare occasions when I need medicine, I always make a point of using his shop.

I first met Mr. Baker outside the pharmacy, at the library where I work. In May after I came here he walked in one day and presented the library with a three-hundred-dollar check for audio books. They were a memorial for his wife, who evidently loved listening to audio books. I learned from the previous director that he does this each year at her birthday. His generosity is part of the reason why we have such a good audio book collection for a library our size.

He and Mary Jane were happily married for many years. When she was diagnosed with cancer she elected to treat it aggressively despite knowing what side effects to expect. It paid off for a while—from what I understand she lived a good deal longer than the doctors initially thought she might.

Since she passed on he has been one of the local organizers of the annual Relay for Life fundraiser for cancer research. It’s a family affair for Mr. Baker, and his grown children, and the grandchildren who call him Pops. They all know it’s what Mary Jane would have wanted.

Besides working, supporting the library, and participating in Relay for Life, Mr. Baker belongs to the local Rotary Club. Since I joined a while back I’ve not known him to miss one of the weekly meetings. He’s as cheerful and outgoing and sweet-natured there as everywhere else I’ve seen him. He sometimes gives me a pat on the back when I get within arm’s reach of him. Everybody likes to see him.

The Rotary meetings are convenient for him because they take place at lunch in a restaurant right across the street from the pharmacy. Lately, though, it hasn’t quite worked out that way. It seems that Mr. Baker also works at the local Food Pantry a couple of blocks away. Recently they have begun handing out sack lunches once a week for everybody who wants one. They do this on the same day as the Rotary meeting. On my way to the meetings I pass the church where the Food Pantry is stationed and see him out there volunteering. A little while later he shows up at the Rotary meeting in time for the making of announcements and lets everybody know how many meals they handed out that day. It’s usually a little over two dozen.

I’m sure staying busy helps Mr. Baker a lot, now that his children are grown and his wife is gone. I doubt if that’s the main reason why, though. You get the distinct impression that he works, and volunteers, and helps people out whenever he can because that’s just the way he is. It has often been said that you get out of life what you put into it. Mr. Baker has put a lot in over the years, and gotten a lot out.