Longtime AP employee Bobby Baker dies at 79

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Bobby E. Baker, who worked for more than 43 years in technology and communications for The Associated Press, has died.

Baker, who had been battling lung cancer, died Monday surrounded by family, his wife, Marilyn Baker, said. He was 79.

Baker joined the AP as a temporary operator in Philadelphia and quickly moved to a full-time position with the company in Des Moines, Iowa, in February 1963. He later worked as a technician in New York and Omaha, Nebraska, before being named assistant chief of communications in Philadelphia. He spent 15 months in that spot until being named chief of communications in Richmond in May 1973, where he remained until his retirement in September 2006.

On the job, he was known for quickly solving problems and doing it with unflappable grace.

“When a communications issue came across my desk ... along with word that Bobby Baker was on the case, I knew that I’d soon be putting the problem in the “Solved” box,” former AP president and chief executive officer Louis D. Boccardi wrote in a recent email to Baker. “Thank you for all those great years of service to AP.”

Former Richmond bureau chief Dorothy Abernathy lauded Baker for his composure and recalled how he quickly set up an alternate work space for staffers when the building that housed the bureau caught fire. He also set up a more permanent space at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, all while trying to get the bureau running again.

“Bobby seemed to be working round the clock in those early days after the fire. He knew how important it was to get the newsroom up and running immediately,” Abernathy said. “But then, he always took his work that seriously. He wouldn’t rest until a problem was resolved.” Abernathy also noted his easy manner when dealing with members on visits, and his invaluable guidance.

“Bobby and I worked together for nearly two decades. He helped me a lot over the years when I needed advice or just needed someone to listen,” she said. “AP was important to him, but so were all the individuals he worked with. He was a friendly, reliable and trustworthy colleague, but also a good friend.”

Baker spent four years in the Air Force, where he learned the communications trade as a teletype operator.

It was during his time in Des Moines that Baker met his wife of 53 years, Marilyn Hinners. They have two children, Robyn (James) Hodges of Powhatan and Christy (Chris) Davoud of Midlothian, and seven grandchildren. Baker also is survived by his sister, Faye Johnson of Raleigh, North Carolina.

Funeral arrangements were pending.