Baker Family Makes Gift

I

Baker Family Makes Gift

Continuing a tradition of community service that began in their family years ago, the children of LaVern (L. J.) and Jean Baker recently donated $25,000 to the Glasgow High School Educational Trust in memory of their parents. Such generous gifts over the last forty-three years have built the corpus of the trust to over $2.4 million dollars. Interest earned on the principal helps finance higher education for GHS graduates, as well as gifts to GHS for equipment and programs that benefit not only all students, but also Valley County residents in general.

Don Baker, Jerry and Claudine Baker, LaVaun Baker Black and Jim Black appreciate the factthat all GHS graduates, whether they are attending a four-year college, community college, or trade school, are eligible for GHS Educational Trust gifts and that recipients can reapply for additional assistance as they continue their education. Applicants must have successfully completed one year of college or one semester of trade school to be considered. Need, not scholarship, is the primary consideration. To date, the trust has given a total of $902,947 to hundreds of different students. Many of these students have received multiple gifts. In addition, every department of GHS has received equipment or programs, which total $100,964 in value.

LaVern, "Bake," and Jean Baker were both graduates of Glasgow High School. He attended Northern Montana College, and she attended the University of Montana. They married in 1940 and made Glasgow their permanent home. Baker worked for the Corps of Engineers, at Glasgow High School as a clerk, and then as a brakeman for the Great Northern Railroad early in his career. In 1948, his hobby of collecting and polishing agates led him to establish Baker’s Jewelry in partnership with his wife. They successfully operated this business until their retirement in 1984. Now owned and operated by Karen and Harvey Wall, who apprenticed under the Bakers for five years, it still bears their name.

Active in numerous community affairs including Boy Scouts, Kiwanis, First Lutheran Church, and Sunnyside Golf and Country Club, the Bakers also enjoyed traveling throughout the United States and abroad. They understood and valued the benefits of higher education and encouraged all students they came in contact with, not just their own children, to seek it. They were also strong supporters of the Glasgow business community and northeastern Montana. This gift to the Glasgow High School Educational Trust, given in their memory by their children, is a meaningful and lasting tribute to those values.

The deadlines for applying for gifts are June 15th and October 15th of each year. Applications, donation forms, and more information about the trust are available at http://www.ghsedutrust.org/ or by contacting one of the following: Jeanine Markle –406-228- 2858 (jjmark@nemontel.net); Danielle Anderson – 406-228-4203 or 406-228-8231; Doris Leader – 406-228-9391 or 406-746-3432; or Linda Allie – 406-228-8561.