Jeanette M Baker

Jeanette M. Baker, 67, CPA and Lt Col, USAF (ret), passed away on Sunday, September 29, 2019. Born on April 7, 1952, in Jamestown, NY to Stuart and Mary Bogey. Jeanette moved to Port Orange, FL at age 5 and grew up there. She attended the University of South Florida graduating in 1973 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry.

After a year of teaching in Hillsborough County Schools, she entered the US Air Force (USAF) and was commissioned a 2LT in May 1975 as an Air Force Weather Officer. Stationed initially at Scott Air Force Base, IL, where she completed a Master of Meteorology degree at Washington University of St Louis, she was transferred to US Air Forces in the Republic of South Korea. While in South Korea, she met and married her husband, Francis L. Baker in 1981; civil ceremony in Honolulu, HI, and a Christian ceremony at US Army Garrison Yongsan.

Eventually Jeanette was reassigned as the USAF Liaison Officer to the Department of Commerce in Washington, DC, and later as a weather officer supporting the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Blessed with the birth of Everard Lee Baker in 1985, Jeanette transferred to the USAF Reserves where she served an additional 9 years, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. In 1989 she was again blessed with the arrival of Michael Stuart Baker, and earned a Master of Business Administration at Baylor University.

Returning to Tampa, Jeanette taught school in Hillsborough County while earning a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license in 1993 after which she employed her leadership skills and education as the Chief Financial Officer in several different organizations before retiring as the CFO with the Tampa Sports Authority in 2015.

In retirement Jeanette enjoyed being with her family, traveling, reading, various church and social activities, and spending time in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.

She is survived by her husband of 38 years, Francis L. Baker, two sons: Everard Lee Baker, 34, and Michael Stuart Baker, 30, and her dearest friend Annabelle Solis of Colorado Springs.