Paving the Way, The History of Baker Rock for Yumpu

Paving the Way
The History of Baker Rock
14

Paving the Way
The History of Baker Rock
As told by Gary T. Baker, Todd Baker, and Jan Baker-Carlson

Produced by Family Heirloom Arts
www.FamilyHeirloomArts.com
Portland, Oregon
Lisa Kagan: Director, Oral Historian, Writer, Photography Editor, Book Designer
Emily García: Book Designer, Production Manager
Anya Hankin: Text Editor
Connie Lenzen: Genealogist
Joseph Webb: Digital Photography Artist
Joan E. Hamilton: Transcriptionist
Maia Fischler: Copy Editor
Mollie Firestone: Proofreader
Copyright © 2015
Gary T. & Todd Baker
All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without permission is prohibited.
Printed by Stevens Printing, Portland, Oregon
Book binding by Grossenbacher Bros., Inc
Front Cover Caption: Jan, Dal, Gary T. and Gary A., 1964 (left), Farmington Road asphalt plant in Beaverton, 1996 (top right),
Gary T. and Todd Baker at the Baker Rock 2020 Celebration, 2014 (bottom right)
Cover design by Lisa Kagan

Content for this book is based on oral history interviews of Gary T. Baker,
Jan Baker-Carlson, and Todd Baker. Highlights from additional interviews
of longtime employees Jim Records and Keith Peal are also featured
throughout the book. Interviews were conducted by Lisa Kagan from 2012
to 2014. Images included in the book were provided by members of the
Baker family and the Baker Rock archives. Additional content for Part I,
“Founders of Baker Rock,” came from Ruth Evelyn Cruse’s handwritten
accounts of her life and oral history interviews with Geraldine Baker, which
were compiled by Heather K. Geer, Ruth’s great-granddaughter, in 1990.

In loving memory of my grandparents, Gary A. and Dal Baker,
whose hard work and integrity paved the way
in establishing a strong foundation for Baker Rock.
Todd Baker

Contents
Part I
The Founders of
Baker Rock
As told by Jan Baker-Carlson
chapter 1
chapter 2
chapter 3
Origin Stories,
Gary A. Baker
Origin Stories,
Dal Robertson
Gary & Dal Baker,
Creating a Life Together
4
14
18
chapter 7
chapter 8
chapter 9
chapter 10
Gary T. Baker, Second
Generation of Leadership
Dedication &
Commitment
Building Toward
the Future
Serving Our
Community
78
92
110
118
vi

Part II
Building the Family
Business
As told by Gary T. Baker
chapter 4
A Strong
Foundation
34
chapter 5
Early Years of
Baker Rock
50
chapter 6
Our Growing
Business
62
Part III
Three Generations
of Baker Rock
As told by Todd Baker
Appendix
Acknowledgments &
Ancestral Charts
chapter 11
Todd A. Baker, a Legacy
of Leadership
140
chapter 12
Growth & Change
158
vii

Introduction
by Todd Baker
As the third generation of my family to be involved with Baker
Rock, I have often reflected on the importance of finding a
way to preserve a thorough history of the company and the story
of its founders, my grandparents Gary A. and Dal Baker. Having
grown up in the business, I was accustomed to hearing bits and
pieces of different stories and memories from my father, longterm
employees, and vendors who have helped the company
grow and become what it is today. Yet most of these stories had
never been written down. In 2010 I was given a book about the
history of Peterson Caterpillar, and I realized we needed to do
the same kind of thing at Baker Rock.
I started the process of creating this book in 2012, and at that
time I had no idea what a huge undertaking it would turn out to
be. I remember Lisa, whom I hired to help me create this book,
explaining that the whole process could take anywhere from
eighteen months to a few years. At that point I thought there was
no way it would take that long. After going through the process,
I now understand why it takes the time that it does.
Over the last three years we conducted oral history interviews
of family members and long-term employees, wrote and
edited the stories, organized and restored our collection of
photographs and documents, and eventually designed Paving
the Way, The History of Baker Rock. Creating this book allowed
me to fully realize the ways in which my grandparents and the
company have had a profound effect not only on me but on so
many people who spent time working for Baker Rock over the
years, as well as members of the local community. Often I will
meet someone who tells me they knew my grandfather. They
always say what a great man he was. My grandmother was also
a pillar of strength and support, for both the company and the
community. A longtime vendor of ours once wrote a note to my
grandmother letting her know Baker Rock would not be half
viii

as successful without her involvement. My grandparents' philosophies
of treating employees and customers fairly, providing
quality products and services, and acting with thoughtfulness
and generosity are still guiding principles within the company
and our family today.
I hope this book will serve as a legacy, which years from now
my children and their children can read to get a sense of the
hard work and determination it took to build Baker Rock, and
what it means to be an active member of the community. I hope
that former, current and future employees can gain an understanding
of how important it has been throughout the three
generations of our family business that Baker Rock remain a
positive, ethical, and vibrant business dedicated to helping make
our community a better place. The company would not be where
it is today without the support of the many employees, vendors
and suppliers who have been there to help along the way.
Overall this book project has been a very rewarding and
enjoyable undertaking, and turned out to be well worth the
effort. I have a newfound respect for what my grandparents
were able to accomplish throughout the course of their lives.
They met and built a life together, laying the groundwork for
all of the generations to come. At times they struggled to overcome
adversity, but they were able to persevere and continue to
move forward. They spent many late nights working to help the
company grow, and there were years when they did not have
much financially to show for their efforts. Yet through it all they
always maintained high standards of integrity and ethical business
practices toward those who touched their lives. I am proud
of what my grandparents and the rest of our family have been
able to accomplish over the years, and it is very gratifying to be
able to honor and preserve their stories through the creation of
this legacy book.
ix

Our ancestors’ abilities to live off the land and endure
great waves of hardship and change, along with their
strong entrepreneurial spirits, have helped enable my
parents, my brother and I, and our children to succeed.
– Jan Baker-Carlson

Part I
The Founders of
Baker Rock
As told by Jan Baker-Carlson
Many of the origin stories highlighted in this section came from
Ruth Evelyn Cruse’s handwritten accounts of her life and oral history interviews
with Geraldine Baker, which were compiled by Heather K. Geer,
Ruth’s great-granddaughter, in 1990.

CHAPTER 1
Origin Stories,
Gary A. Baker
Hard work and perseverance helped to bring the Baker
family to Oregon, where multiple generations continue to
grow and thrive. We come from a long line of hardy stock, who
have learned how to cultivate the soil, tend to the livestock, and
extract rock from the earth. Our ancestors’ abilities to live off
the land and endure great waves of hardship and change, along
with their strong entrepreneurial spirits, have helped enable my
parents, my brother and I, and our children to succeed.
Ruth Evelyn Cruse and
Harvey Earl Baker
My great-grandparents, William Martin and Elsie Cruse,
were living in a stone house in Pawnee, Nebraska, when their
daughter, Ruth Evelyn Cruse, came into the world on January
11, 1893. Ruth and her siblings spent most of their childhood
Facing page: Ruth, Gary, Homer, Geraldine, Virginia, and Harvey Baker, 1925
Above: Gary A. Baker, 1925
years growing up on farms, so Ruth was accustomed to the
demands of rural life from early on.
In addition to helping care for the family farm, Ruth was able
to attend school through eighth grade. Ruth was tiny, standing
only about 4 feet 10 inches tall. Her growth was stunted by a
bout of scarlet fever that she managed to survive when she was
a girl. Though small in stature, she was very strong. As she got
older, she always wore her hair down past her hips. She loved
to participate in school activities and socialize with her friends.
When she was in eighth grade, her father sold their family farm
and moved to Guide Rock, Nebraska. Ruth met our paternal
grandfather, Harvey Earl Baker, while she was a young woman
living in Guide Rock.
Harvey was born March 21, 1891, to Harrison and Bertha
Baker. Harvey’s parents came from a long line of survivors who
had made their way to Nebraska against the odds. According to
family lore, this line of the Baker family endured a very treacherous
journey across America in a covered wagon, but the details
5

One day Harvey was on a job working to remove sand from
a pit when suddenly the whole pit caved in. All of the men were
able to escape unharmed except for Harvey, who was trapped
in the pit. He broke his leg in the incident, and was laid up
in recovery for several weeks. The local doctor was not available
to treat him, so the town’s veterinarian had to set his leg.
Unfortunately the leg was not set properly, and as a result, he
walked with a limp for the rest of his life.
Once Harvey was able to maneuver around on crutches,
he was eager to go out and see how his crew was progressing
on their projects. The family had just gotten a new car, which
Ruth was excited to learn to drive. She had never driven before,
but since Harvey was unable to drive himself because of his
“touchy” leg, she had to learn in a hurry. Harvey was not very
pleased with this arrangement as he preferred to be able to get
around on his own, but he had no choice but to depend on Ruth
for his transportation needs. Even though Harvey proved to be
an impatient and difficult driving instructor, Ruth really enjoyed
the opportunity to take a break from her domestic responsibilities
and drive around the area in order to help Harvey with his work.
Homer, Geraldine and Gary Baker, 1921
Gary A. Baker’s Childhood
My father, in addition to his love of swimming, really
enjoyed running track as a boy. He was an excellent runner,
and thrived on being a member of the track team and competing
in local races. He was a track star in high school, and set
a state record for the mile when he was a senior. That record
stood for quite a few years. Unfortunately, Gary had to miss
the statewide competition when he came down with tuberculosis.
He was heartbroken not to be able to compete. He felt
that missing that opportunity changed the course of his life,
8

Gary A. (top row 2nd person from right) and Homer (front row 1st person from right) in the Palisade High School Band, 1935
9

CHAPTER 3
Gary & Dal Baker,
Creating a Life Together
Dal’s best friend in school, Louise Boyd, had gotten married
and moved to Hillsboro, Oregon, after they finished high
school. Eventually Dal and Wilma managed to escape from their
oppressive home life with Walter, and they decided to take a trip
together during the summer of 1938 to visit Louise and her new
husband, Irvin, in Oregon. At that time, Dal was engaged to a
fellow in Denver.
Soon after they arrived in Oregon, Louise and Irvin told
Dal about a male friend of theirs, and suggested the four of
them should go out together. They showed Dal his picture, and
although she thought he was handsome, she reminded them
that she was already engaged to another man, and that whatever
socializing she would be doing while she was in Oregon
would be strictly platonic.
Facing page: Gary A. and Dal Baker in front of their first house in Hillsboro,
1945 (top left); Gary T. and Jan Baker, 1948 (bottom left); Dal Dally and Gary A.
Baker at the Oregon State Fair in Salem, 1938 Above: Dal and Gary, 1938
On the day of her outing with Louise, Irvin, and their mystery
friend, Dal spent the afternoon at a local swimming hole.
She returned home soaking wet to find that her “platonic date”
had already arrived at her doorstep. He was so early that she
hardly had a chance to get ready. She ran inside and changed
her clothes, and in her rush, did not even have time to dry her
hair. Her date’s name was Gary Baker.
So off they went Gary and Dal to meet Louise and Irvin for
a movie, Dal with wet hair dripping down her back, and Gary
already intrigued with this unique young woman. They had a
wonderful time together that evening, and again the next day,
and again the next. Gary took Dal to the coast, because being
from Nebraska, she had never seen the ocean. The foursome
ended up spending every day together, adventuring and exploring
new sights. They even went and enjoyed the state fair. I
have a picture that my father, Gary, took at the state fair, of my
mother, Dal, sitting on a tree trunk. We found that picture in
his wallet after my father died, when we were going through
19

with the children. She also really valued building
relationships with the students. But because she
was just five feet tall, the boys in eighth grade
were bigger than she was, making it difficult for
her to play the role of disciplinarian with much
authority. As a result, she had a number of male
students who were constantly giving her a very
hard time. She also had to live away from home
while she was teaching. Although the people she
lived with were kind to her, they were not family,
and Dal felt like a lodger there. It was not where
she wanted to establish her own home.
Dal Dally, 1936
A Secret Marriage,
Beginning a Life Together
On December 17, 1938, Gary and Dal got
married by a justice of the peace in Harrisburg,
Nebraska. Wilma and Noreen accompanied
them as witnesses. They were excited to be part
of their special day, even if it had to take place
in secret. That weekend, Gary and Dal went on
a brief honeymoon, but they had to return by
Sunday evening so that Dal could teach school on
Monday morning.
Once Dal returned to work, Gary embarked
on his trip back to Oregon. He was determined
to find a good job and begin preparing for Dal to
move to Hillsboro at the close of the school year
when her teaching job ended. Now that they were
officially married, Dal knew that she could no longer
postpone her conversation with the fellow she
22

had been engaged to in Denver. She had to tell him that she was
married. She felt awful because she really had loved him and she
did not want to hurt him. She just knew that Gary was the one
for her, and while she dreaded hurting her former fiancé, she was
certain that she wanted to spend her life with Gary.
Moving West,
Birth of the Next Generation
After Dal finished her teaching commitment in Bridgeport,
Nebraska, she made her way out to Oregon. Though Dal was a
little nervous to move out West and begin this new phase of her
life, she could not wait to be together with Gary, without thousands
of miles between them.
When she first arrived, they stayed with Gary’s parents, Ruth
and Harvey, on the family’s farm in Hillsboro, where Gary had
been living. Though Ruth and Harvey knew about the courtship
and marriage, due to the circumstances they had not actually
met Dal until she moved to Oregon. When Gary introduced her,
my grandfather Harvey joked that she was such a bitty thing, my
father would never find her in bed. Dal was quite embarrassed
by this comment.
After that first awkward encounter, my mother shed her
embarrassment and grew to love my father’s parents dearly, and
they adored her as well. My mother was excited to become part
of their family and join their household. She was a very good
helper to my grandparents. She fit right in and made a meaningful
contribution to the household by helping her mother-in-law
care for their home. Gary worked with his father on the farm.
The whole family loved each other and got along extremely well,
so the arrangement was easy for everyone.
Gary was working at the Birds Eye Cannery in Hillsboro
Dal Baker on her road trip from Nebraska to Oregon with a 1931 Model A
when Dal arrived in Oregon. He worked in processing, and soon
Dal was hired in that department as well. Not long after she
started her position, they asked her if she could type. They were
impressed with her skills and she was quickly promoted to a secretarial
position. Following his time working in the cannery, Gary
moved on to take a job with a Caterpillar equipment dealer in
23

CHAPTER 4
A Strong
Foundation
My dad, Gary, worked for a few years at G.D. Dennis &
Sons. In 1946 he decided to leave the company and go
into business with his brother, Homer. After a few years of running
Baker Brothers, they eventually dissolved their partnership,
and my dad decided he was ready to start his own company.
He felt he had developed his skills to the point where he was
prepared to become his own boss. In the beginning, his business
specialized in doing pond excavation, cleaning out drainage
ditches, and running dragline. He named his business Gary Baker
Contractor. He did the majority of the work himself, but hired
some additional help as needed as his business began to grow. His
business was doing well until he hit a rough spell in 1952.
When we were young, my dad was very busy with building
the family business. He worked extremely hard to navigate the
ups and downs of running his own business while still making
Facing page: Gary A. Baker, c.1950 (top left), Dal Baker, c.1950 (bottom left),
Jan, Dal, Gary T. and Gary A., 1964 Above: Gary A. and Dal Baker, 1950
sure to always provide for our family. His workday started at
six o’clock in the morning — sometimes earlier — and often his
workday would not end until eight o’clock in the evening, especially
in the summertime. My mom was the primary caregiver
in our family, and she also did the books for the business. At that
time she did them at home in our basement because there was
no company office yet. After the quarry opened, they set up a
little shed, which they decided to convert into an office, and she
would work from there. Once my mom started working at the
quarry, she would still make sure that she came home in time to
pick us up from school, get us settled, and make dinner. On the
weekends, she was always home with us, working on projects in
the kitchen, or going on family outings.
Even though my mom did her best to be there for us while
she was working, there was a time when I was young when I
really did not want my mom to work. I wanted to be able to
come home and have her there whenever I wanted her. Yet as a
young adult, I began to see how important the business was to
35

Gary, Growing into Adulthood
As told by Gary T. Baker
Teen Years
Throughout high school, dancing was one of my primary
outlets. Besides that, I was never particularly athletically inclined.
At my father’s urging, I did run track for a little while in high
school, but I was never as driven with it as my father had been.
Academically, I had to work to get Cs, and once in a while I
would get a B. Very seldom I would get an A and once in a great
while I would get a D.
Every summer from the time I was eleven years old, I worked
for my father. At twelve years old it was not unusual for me to
man the office by myself on Saturdays, where I would answer
the phones and sell rock. Customers would come in wanting
a load of this or a load of that, and I would go out, load
them up and collect the money. That continued on all through
high school, and as I got older, I began spending more time
in the summers working out in the field on construction jobs
and helping the men prepare and lay pipe. In the early days,
the company was small enough that there were not a lot of
employees working for my dad. He had a few full-time staff, but
I worked wherever and whenever they wanted me. So I got to
have my hands in everything — sometimes I would be working
with the mechanic taking something apart, other times I would
be loading dump trucks or feeding the crusher — just wherever
they needed me to be.
I was always very interested in cars, and once I turned
sixteen my dad told me that I needed to get my driver’s license
and buy a car so that I would be less dependent on the family
Gary T., Hillsboro High School graduation, 1960
38

vehicles. I bought my first car — a brown and
cream 1946 Chevrolet four-door sedan — in 1958,
for $65. We saw an ad in the paper and my mother
went with me to buy it. I brought it home, had it a
week, made a modification to the exhaust system,
and then drove it into town and got a ticket for loud
exhaust. I drove that car for about a year. The next
year I worked all summer long and saved enough
money to buy a 1953 Ford convertible. I had
always wanted a convertible. Once I got my driver’s
license, they sent me out quite often chasing parts
for the business. A piece of equipment would break
down and I would be sent to various equipment
suppliers in Beaverton or Portland to get a replacement
part.
Value of Early Work Experience
Having started in the business so young, I have
never been afraid to work, and work hard. My
early experience working for my dad taught me
the self-worth of being able to accomplish things.
I learned not to worry about getting dirty — very
dirty — because all I had to do was go home and
step in the shower and wash it off and I was as good
as new.
It hit me later in life, but I realized that one of the challenges
of having started working hard from such a young age is that I
did not know how to relax. I worked so much that it was hard for
me to turn off that work-focused part of my brain. Once I finally
retired, I had the opportunity to build more regular relaxation into
my lifestyle, but it took a while to get used to that change of pace.
Gary T. and Jim Sanders at Boot Camp in San Diego, California, 1961
College and Joining the Navy
I worked at Baker Rock through high school. After high school,
my dad really encouraged me to go to college. I was not excited
about going to college, but my dad won out and I went to Portland
State for a term. I came out with a .67 GPA, which is about a D.
After this first term, I decided I was not interested in returning to
college, and so I enlisted in the Navy Seabees and I went on active
39

Throughout Baker Rock’s three generations of
leadership, one of the keys to our success has been
our ability to change and adapt the way we run our
business to meet the needs of our customers and keep
pace with the changing technology.
– Gary T. Baker

Part II
Building the Family
Business
As told by Gary T. Baker

CHAPTER 5
Early Years of
Baker Rock
My father, Gary A. Baker, laid the foundation for what has
now grown to become Baker Rock Resources. He started
the business in the fall of 1952 with $12 in his pocket but good
credit to his name. In the mid 1940s, my father had begun doing
excavation and pipe work for people, gaining invaluable experience
in running his own business. Yet at the start of 1952, he
encountered significant financial difficulties that could have been
the end of his career as a business owner. My father was determined
not to go bankrupt; he knew that maintaining good credit
would be essential if he ever wanted to run his own business in
the future. He felt he had no choice but to step away from the
business he was starting, and take up work for a bridge-building
company that summer.
Through his perseverance and extremely hard work, he was
Facing page: Gary A. Baker (right) with the new Allis-Chalmers HD-5 tractor
shovel purchased by Baker Davis Contractors, c.1954
Above: Detail from facing page
able to pay off his creditors, preventing himself from going bankrupt.
The first thing my father did when he was ready to start up
his business again was to go to Clyde Equipment Company, now
known as Clyde West. They financed the purchase of a Bucyrus-
Erie 15-B dragline. That was the first machine my father bought,
and we still own it to this day. Over sixty years later, our company
continues to do business with Clyde West. With the purchase of
that machine, my father was truly back in business.
During this time my father was regularly attending the Elks
Club, where he got to know another Elks member by the name
of Ray Davis. They decided to join forces. Ray Davis owned a
TD-7 Crawler tractor. With Ray’s TD-7 and Dad’s 15-B, they
formed a partnership. Their business was called Baker Davis
Contractors. Soon after, they went out and bought a small Ford
9-N tractor, which they modified so that instead of pulling a
plow on the back, it carried a little cement-mixer drum. With
that machine, they started bidding excavation and pipe work.
Together they worked in Beaverton, Hillsboro, Cedar Hills, and
51

ut Baker Rock continued to bid projects with G.D. Dennis &
Sons off and on for several years.
Lessons Learned from Joint Ventures
and Partnerships
My dad, Gary, initiated several partnerships during his time
running Baker Rock, and from my perspective, it generally
seemed like they did not work out that well, and turned out to be
more trouble than they were worth. After witnessing my father’s
successful and less successful business collaborations, I came to
the conclusion that I was interested in concentrating more on
our core businesses, and less on additional side ventures. As I
began to take over leadership of Baker Rock, I decided to stay
out of partnership arrangements. Throughout the years, opportunities
continued to arise, but I always felt that it was easier
for me not to have partners. In that same vein, I received some
sage advice from my accountant. who encouraged me to pay my
employees well but keep the company in the family. I have followed
his advice, and it has served me well.
Celebrating the Accomplishments of
Gary A. Baker
Through his work with Baker Rock, my dad, Gary, was very
proud of the services he was able to provide to the municipalities
over the years. He built a good name for our family business. He
was known for his honesty and integrity. My dad always valued
being involved in projects that would benefit the wellbeing of
the community. As a result of his civic involvement, he always
received a lot of respect from community members for being
such a successful businessman and for his generosity in sharing
his resources. His strong relationship with the community meant Gary A.
76

a lot to him. My dad was also very proud of being able to
honor his commitment to his employees throughout the years.
Through all of the ups and downs of building the business, his
employees always went home with a paycheck, and his suppliers
were always paid.
My dad was proud of all that Baker Rock had accomplished,
and he was especially proud of the fact that as I began to take
over more of his responsibilities,
the business was in a position
where we could actually be
debt-free. Throughout those
early years, he always had to
borrow money to help the business
grow. He had developed a
strong working relationship with
First Interstate Bank (now Wells
Fargo), which saw Baker Rock
through our early investments
and also enabled the start-up of
Mountain Trucking Co., Inc.
In the early 1980s, as we were
growing the company, I had
Baker Rock totally debt-free. The
business was thriving and we had
cash in the bank. I think that
made my father extremely proud.
He expressed to me that he felt
really good because he had not
imagined that he would ever be
at a point in his life where he
would be completely debt-free. Gary T. and Gary A.
Through over fifty years of hard work, my father and mother
gave Baker Rock the foundation it needed to transition into the
next generation of leadership, and I was ready to take on the
challenge. I felt that collaborating with my father for over twenty
years had prepared me to take on the myriad responsibilities necessary
to manage the business and help it grow and develop into
the next level of success.
77

CHAPTER 9
Building Toward
the Future
I
am really proud of so many aspects of our business. Getting
into the asphalt business was a huge step for us. I take a lot
of pride in the fact that we were able to get it off the ground
and make it as successful as it has been. The development of the
asphalt business took a lot of effort on my part, because after
about four or five years, my dad began to phase out his involvement,
and I became the one who was primarily in charge of it.
Over the years I got involved in the state and national paving
associations, which have turned out to be very useful organizations
to be a part of. With the help of Jim and the rest of our
team, we were able to grow and expand this aspect of our business
to the point where we are now a force to be reckoned with.
In addition to ways in which we have grown the core components
of our business, we have found ways to be innovative
with reusing waste materials from our operation and turning
Facing page: Farmington Road asphalt plant in Beaverton, 1996
Above: Baker Rock truck
them into useful and profitable materials. There is a byproduct
of our crushing system called reject fill material, which is the first
portion of the rock that is bled off after it goes through the first
crusher. It is done that way because after it goes through the first
crusher there is some dirt mixed in with the aggregate as well as
some softer rock particles. We have to get rid of that material so
we can have the good hard stuff left to make asphalt rock. For
many years we sold that product, and then some of the government
agencies that were using it decided that they did not want
to use it anymore. As a result, that pile of material was building
up, and it was getting to the point where we did not know what
we would do with it. Through my urging, we turned it over to
Keith Peal. With Keith’s lead, we were able to take that waste
material, add some lime, and mix it through a specific process in
order to turn it into a very viable, sellable retail product.
I pride myself on the fact that we stay at the forefront of
what is going on in the industry, and strive to be leaders in our
field. We have always been committed to having a voice within
111

purchase of our company and one other, but not to proceed with
any additional transactions. At this point, Jan and I had reviewed
everything and were ready to go ahead with the sale. However,
they wanted to make one change. They wanted to give us a letter
of credit for $3 million, and pay us 3.75 percent on the bank letter
for three years. I conferred with Jan, who said she did not like
the new proposal, but was willing to take it.
I began to feel uncertain about the arrangement. I had
figured out bonuses for all my employees, which I would not be
able to follow through on under this new arrangement. I went
back to the buyer and explained that I needed more security
than a bank letter of credit. I wanted the right to put a notice of
intent to lien on the property. That way, if they did not pay me at
the end of the three years, I could put a lien on it. They rejected
that proposal, and I in turn decided to refuse their offer.
They were still very interested in the purchase, and came back
a month later to ask me if I would change my mind. However,
they would not provide me with the security I had requested, so
again I turned them down.
The process of going through these negotiations provided the
opportunity for Jan and me to discuss our thoughts regarding the
future of the company and our involvement in it. Jan expressed
that her children, Chelsea and Jordan, were not interested in
becoming involved in the company. I knew that Todd was interested
in taking on more leadership in the company, and I had
decided that I was not ready to give up my own involvement. Jan
concluded that she was done being involved, and it made sense
for me to buy her out. We worked out the details, and I bought
out Jan’s share of the company soon afterward in 2003. This
set the stage for Todd and me to begin thinking about the next
phase of growth and development for Baker Rock.
Transitioning into the Third
Generation of Leadership
I felt good about the decision to keep the company, even
though we had been planning on a different outcome. Todd had
affirmed that he was committed to the future of Baker Rock,
and was interested in furthering his involvement. Our employees
were thrilled that we were going to keep the company, and
relieved to regain a sense of job security for their futures.
It was soon after, toward the end of 2001, that Jim
approached me and recommended that I promote Todd to a
supervisor position. Jim said that it was time for Todd to be his
boss, and not the other way around. Jim was certain that Todd
was ready to be a leader within the company. When I spoke
with Todd after we got through the “almost-sale” and I had
proposed to buy Jan out of her share, I explained to him that it
would entail taking on a serious amount of debt. I told him that
this would mean a long-term commitment to the business on his
part. He was okay with that and ready to delve in.
Then I spoke to my employees. I explained that I had been
working for forty-plus years and that I was ready to start moving
away from some of that responsibility. There was a general
sentiment that it was time and that I very much deserved a
break. This set the wheels in motion for me to begin to transition
into retirement.
Easing into Retirement
In 2000, during the time when we put the business up for
sale, my wife, Dixie, and I moved to a condo in Vancouver,
Washington. After a few years there we decided to build a place
in Central Oregon as well. It took us about two years before we
finally found the property we wanted.
114

After having witnessed my dad’s experience of transitioning
into retirement, I had some ideas of how I wanted
to ease into my own. My dad was really good about going
down to his farm in St. Paul and not sticking around the
plant to micromanage me. I knew that I needed to do the
same as Todd was beginning to take over. That was a big
impetus for moving to Central Oregon, and we finally
moved into our new place on Thanksgiving of 2006. Our
place is outside Sisters toward Redmond, near Smith Rock
and out in the country. We absolutely love it, and it was
a welcome change of pace from the busy life I had maintained
while running the company for so many years. We
live a very active retirement lifestyle, whether it is working
on our land or going out for a hike. We really enjoy the
climate and landscape of Central Oregon.
We also love to go on trips in our motorcoach, and we
spend much of our time traveling together. Dixie drives the
motorcoach just as well as I can, and we trade off on those
duties when we are out on the road. We always spend the
winters in Indio, California. While we are there, we love
spending time with our friends, riding motorcycles, attending
car shows and doing the things we truly enjoy.
Dixie was twenty-eight when we got married. I was
forty-two. We have thirteen years difference between us.
It was not a big deal when we got married, but it is a big
deal for Dixie now, and she is very focused on keeping me
active and healthy. We have worked hard over the years
to create a shared life and navigate the ups and downs of
having a blended family. We have been together now for
over twenty-nine years. We both are very happy to have the
opportunity to build this next phase of our lives together. Dixie and Gary T. Baker at the Baker Rock 40th Anniversary celebration, 1996
115

CHAPTER 10
Serving Our
Community
Community involvement has always been an integral part of
our family business. My parents were always very involved
in the community, on both a personal and professional level.
My mother was very involved in the activities that my sister and
I participated in when we were growing up, helping to support
programs for children in our neighborhood. My father
was a charter member of the Hillsboro Jaycees. When my
father joined, he immediately got involved in helping the city
of Hillsboro build a float for the Portland Rose Parade. In the
mid 1950s, National Geographic came out to do a big spread
about the Rose Parade in Portland, and the float that my parents
helped build for the Hillsboro Jaycees was featured in that
article. In the photograph you can see my parents riding on the
float, along with the couple who introduced them when they first
started dating. My parents were always very proud of that article.
Facing page: Irv and Louise Boyd with Dal and Gary Baker riding in a float they
helped to build for the Portland Rose Parade, 1955 Above: Dal and Gary Baker
From a fairly young age, my dad always encouraged me to
get involved with leadership organizations in our community.
Around the same time that I started back to work for our company,
I became a member of the Hillsboro Jaycees. My father
was able to see me take on leadership roles with the Jaycees,
overseeing successful projects and community endeavors. I imagine
that made him feel more comfortable about me managing
people and finances while serving as a leader in our company.
In many ways, I credit the Hillsboro Jaycees for my confidence,
success and effectiveness as a leader. Due in part to the incredibly
positive impact that my experiences with the Jaycees had on
my sense of self identity, I have always strongly encouraged my
employees to be actively involved in the community.
I also took a leadership class at the Hillsboro Chamber
of Commerce, one day a month over a nine-month period. I
enjoyed it so much that the next year I sponsored one of our
employees so they would have the opportunity to participate in
the class. Over the last fifteen years or so, we have sponsored
119

one of our employees each year to participate in this leadership
class. I have always felt that the benefit to the employees is well
worth the loss of their time one day a month, and the cost to
the company for them to attend. I have seen the results of the
relationships that were formed through their connections with
the Chamber of Commerce, enabling our participating employees
to be more deeply connected to community members and
organizations. Over the years, whenever a problem has come
up, without a doubt we have someone who knows someone
who knows someone, and we can always find a way to sit down
together and work it out.
In addition to our company’s involvement with the Hillsboro
Chamber of Commerce and the Jaycees, many of our employees
have been very active in other community organizations and
professional associations. Jim Records was involved in several
public agencies and served on planning commissions and various
committees to work on Goal Five Resources. Goal Five is a broad
statewide planning goal that covers more than a dozen resources,
including wildlife habitats, historic places, and aggregate. Jim has
gone through many chair positions for different organizations
and has served as president of OCAPA, the Oregon Concrete
and Aggregate Producers Association.
Our longtime employee Keith Peal has served on the
Chamber of Commerce. He started out on the leadership committee,
eventually moved onto the board of directors, and then
served as Chamber President. For a number of years I was on
the Hillsboro Community Foundation board. Their mission is
to “promote and facilitate charitable giving in support of projects
and programs that enhance the quality of life in Hillsboro,”
and I was proud to be a part of it. For two years in a row, I also
served as president of the Asphalt Pavement Association of Gary A. and Dal in Yuma, Arizona, 1984
120

The Baker Family’s Spirit of Charitable Giving
As told by Jan Baker-Carlson
My father, Gary, and my mom, Dal, really valued the importance
of giving back to their community, even during the early
years when our family business was just getting off the ground.
They had less than $20 to their names when they got married, yet
slowly they were able to find work and begin saving for their future
together. This eventually enabled them to buy a home, and begin
to create the life they had always wanted. They basically started
our family business from scratch, and all the while, they cultivated
an incredible sense of generosity through their charitable giving.
They believed in helping others, and that was instilled in them
throughout their childhoods, in part through the values relayed
in church. My paternal grandparents were strong churchgoers,
and my parents had been consistent church attendees during their
childhoods as well. So from a very young age, my brother and I
were taught the importance of giving back to others, and I cherish
that lesson.
In the 1950s, when my parents were raising my brother and
me, my dad, Gary, and my grandfather Harvey went to the
Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce and said that they felt like
their community needed an outdoor swimming pool. There was
no place for the children to go swimming in the summers, and
they wanted to change that. Having access to a community swimming
pool was so important to my dad when he was growing up
in Nebraska. Swimming in the local pool was one of the only
recreational activities available to children in their poor and rural
community, and as a result, many of his favorite childhood memories
centered on the time he spent at the pool during the summers.
Using the tools at their disposal from my parents’ excavation
business, they volunteered to dig the pool themselves. Shortly after
they launched the project, other businesses in the area offered to
pour the concrete and do the additional tasks necessary for the
successful completion of the project. A child had to be seven years
old to go in the pool, and I was only six at the time they started
the project, so they decided to build a wading pool for younger
children as well. Once it was complete, Dad always referred to it as
“my pool.” Even though I know it was not just for me, the wading
pool was always very special to me. Their efforts to build these
pools for our community left a big impression on me at that age.
That was my first memory of my parents’ charitable giving.
Many years later, my mom decided to start the Dal L. Baker
Charitable Lead Trust. It means a lot to our family that the Trust
has been able to support many charitable organizations and
community projects throughout Washington County and the surrounding
counties, and has had such a significant impact on our
community. Generous and consistent giving has been a very strong
thread throughout our all of our lives. It is a good feeling when
you are able to give back to the communities like that — it feels like
you are giving someone a gift, but really, it is the best gift that you
can give to yourself, too.
Jan’s Charitable Work in the Community
Inspired by my parents’ spirit of generosity, charitable giving
and community involvement have always been very important to
me. Simply by living lives of generosity and integrity, they showed
121

An influential factor impacting the success of multigenerational
businesses is what each generation learns
from the previous generation. Respect, reciprocity,
honesty and direct communication have been guiding
principles within all of our business dealings from
the very beginning. I want to make sure that these core
values continue to be implemented in the day-to-day
operations of our company.
– Todd Baker

Part III
Three Generations
of Baker Rock
As told by Todd Baker

CHAPTER 11
Todd A. Baker,
a Legacy of Leadership
I
started coming to Baker Rock with my dad, Gary T., when
I was about seven years old. By the time I was about twelve,
I began working for our family business, though I did not work
directly with my dad. He held the philosophy that he never
wanted to be the supervisor of one of his children, so that meant
that I never worked under him. It was important to my dad to
focus on being a parent, and he did not want work dynamics to
come into conflict with that. When I was really young, I would
ride to work with my dad and then head over to the shop to find
out what I was going to be doing that day.
My early responsibilities included washing dump trucks, pulling
weeds around the office building, and sorting nuts and bolts.
On the wall we had — and still do — fifty bins with different sizes
of hardware. I would be in charge of a five-gallon bucket full of
nuts and bolts. I was given a little measuring tool and instructed
Facing page: Gary T. and Todd Baker at the Baker Rock 2020 Celebration, 2014
Above: Todd Baker, 2014
to stick the nut or bolt in the measuring tool to determine the
diameter and the length of it. Then I would select the correct
bin to place it in. My grandfather, Gary A., could do it visually,
without the tool, which impressed me immensely. He could just
look at the bolt and throw it in the correct bin. As a kid, that
seemed like a certain kind of magic.
That is how I started at Baker Rock, sorting hardware, working
around the shop, and cleaning and sweeping up. When I
turned thirteen years old, I was taught to run the loader by an
older guy, Bob, who worked for Baker Rock. He was probably
about sixty-five at the time, and he had quite a bit of experience.
I would come up on Saturdays and load trucks. We used to have
a huge amount of stockpiled reject material that towered about
seventy-five feet tall. There was a conveyor that ran up to the top
of the pile so we could continue to add more reject material. We
were responsible for picking the material up with a loader, taking
it to the other end of the pile, going up to the edge and dumping
it off. There was a berm around the edge of the pile where
141

Construction of the new Crushing Plant at the Farmington Quarry, 1994–1995
150

consultants to do traffic-impact studies, wetland studies, and
biological assessments, and I was sharing the oversight of those
studies with Jim.
Throughout that period from 1994 to 1996, I continued with
my responsibilities in the estimating department while simultaneously
pursuing these special projects with Jim. This was a real
boom time for Baker Rock. At a certain point we had to actually
limit how much material our existing customers could buy,
and we were unable to take on new customers. We were limiting
how much our customers could purchase each day, because if we
had our top five customers picking up their orders, they would
run us out of material by 10 a.m. We were running production
from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m., and then we were running a graveyard
maintenance shift. We were so busy and growing rapidly,
and everybody was working very hard and putting in long hours.
From 1993 to 1997, our trajectory of sales volume went from
900,000 tons to almost 1,800,000 tons, effectively doubling our
sales volume in less than four years.
We were hugely productive and successful, but we were also
being run to the bone. Everyone was exhausted. Tony Keller
came onboard about that time and became our first chief
financial officer, helping to manage the financial aspects of our
rapidly growing company. We had hired a consulting firm to
evaluate our business and management structure, and the consulting
team recommended that we bring a financial person on
board. Tony was one of the consultants who did the evaluation,
and when we posted the job, he submitted his name into the
pool, and we decided to hire him.
Shortly after Tony starting worked with us, in 1999, we
bought a concrete and asphalt plant in Scappoose. Tony recommended
that I go over there and run that operation as a
test to see how I would do. We purchased the plant for about
$650,000, so it was a low-risk test to see if I had the capability
of managing an operation of that scale. That was the first
acquisition I ever did.
I began working at the Scappoose site during the day. It was
during that time that Baker Rock got into the concrete business.
I was twenty-nine years old and did not know anything about
concrete. Most of the concrete drivers were older than I was,
and they had a lot more experience than I did in certain areas.
I was timid in the beginning, but over the two-year span that I
worked in Scappoose, I gained invaluable experience managing
people, as well as the confidence I needed to help me come into
my own as a leader.
I ran the operation in Scappoose until 2001, when I started
to take on more of a leadership role within Baker Rock. By
that point my father, Gary T., was spending more time away
from the office. In 2003, we were able to acquire the Burch
West Companies, which were composed of concrete, aggregate,
asphalt, and construction divisions. I was responsible for facilitating
that acquisition. Until that point, my title had been assistant
vice president, and then I became executive vice president. In
2008, I officially became president of Baker Rock.
Respect and Reciprocity
Both of my grandparents had a fundamental moral code of
respect and reciprocity in business, and I learned a good deal
from their example. When my grandparents were running the
business, it was standard practice at Baker Rock to make sure
the vendors and employees were paid, and then whatever was
left was used for food or other essentials for our family. All of my
family members have always been big proponents of honesty
151

CHAPTER 12
Growth & Change
I
am proud of a lot of things that have happened during my
time as a leader in the company. We have made a number of
significant acquisitions, including the small one in Scappoose in
1999, our first big one in McMinnville in 2003, Cobb Rock in
2010, and the most recent one, Oregon Mainline Paving in 2013.
2003 Asphalt Plant Acquisition
In 2003, around the same time that we completed the acquisition
of the Burch West Companies, we ended up buying a new
asphalt plant for our Farmington location to replace our existing
asphalt plant. We had never been able to grow our business out
of our old asphalt plant, because due to its size we could only
Facing page: Installation of new asphalt plant in Beaverton, 2003 (top and bottom
left), Todd Baker and Congressman Peter DeFazio with fellow contractors
announcing 1st stimulus program jobs (top right), New dumptruck (bottom right)
Above: Todd Baker
produce what we needed, and therefore were unable to service
outside customers' needs. We had heard some talk that there
was a finished asphalt plant being sold wholesale. Right before
Christmas, we called Cedarapids, the new plant manufacturer in
Oklahoma City. They informed us that they had built a plant for
a contractor in Florida who could not get his permits. It was the
exact plant that we were looking for, so we asked for a price on it.
They priced it at $1.9 million, while it was probably worth closer
to $2.1 million. We began negotiating on the price, and they
came down to $1.6 million, but we kept pushing. The day before
Christmas in 2002, they came back at $1.4 million. We signed
the deal and immediately started shipping the plant out here.
This acquisition was indicative of how Baker Rock aims to
do business — seeking out good deals and really being able to
take advantage of them, where it is still a win-win all around.
Maintaining that ability to act quickly on a deal is another
factor that has made us successful over the years. I learned
159

Aerial view of the Farmington Quarry, 2015
local agencies have allowed us to build a relationship where we
can go to each other to work out issues or ideas that ultimately
allow us to provide better service to the surrounding community.
I do not believe that my grandparents started their philanthropic
giving with any intention of getting anything back.
They were simply a part of the community, and they wanted
to thank the community for the success that the company had
experienced. At the time, there were a lot of privately owned
businesses. It was a small town, and everyone was involved in
everything. There were no credit checks back then. If someone
could not pay, they let you know and
then you worked something out with
them. There was trust and faith. There
was a sense of reciprocity and support.
My grandparent’s desire to give back
came from their foundational relationship
with the community.
As our business grew, they realized
that it was successful not only because of
their business acumen, but in large part
because of their relationship with people
in the community. That relationship
has carried on through the generations.
For many of the people who have been
around in the community a long time,
that sense of personal relationship, of
shared commitment, is still intact.
If you look at a lot of longtime
family-owned businesses in this area,
the reason they are large property owners
is because they were successful and
smartly reinvested in the community. They all spend some of
what they have earned from the community reinvesting in the
community — and that has helped both the businesses and the
community to continue to develop and grow.
Future of the Business
In regards to the future of the business, I want us to be profitable
and to continue doing good work in the community. We
are ever evolving as a company. As we have continued to grow
over the last fifteen years, we have had a shift in management
174

style toward giving increased responsibility to our management
teams. Businesswise, my hope is that we continue to expand
in that direction. When there is more communication and
accountability with employees, we continue to foster that sense
of investment and ownership in relation to the work that we do.
I have been working to cultivate a sense that while the Baker
family may own the company, there is a team of people who
run it. I want everyone to get credit for their different roles in
building a successful business.
On an employee and a community level, we will continue to
strive to be a company where people have a safe and respectful
work environment, and can be assured that they can provide for
their families and feel good about what they do. We have been
working intently on developing communication and training
methods so that employees feel confident in their job security.
Personally, I am still finding the balance that makes me the
most comfortable in regards to the daily management of the
company. I want to continue to grow the business in an orderly,
strategic way. I also want to continue trusting in my team, sharing
responsibility, and working to sustain a thriving company.
I know that sustaining our business over time requires ongoing
adaptation. I see us continuing to operate in a close geographic
footprint. Maybe someday we will spread out from that, but for
now there are enough opportunities to keep us busy and close
to home.
It is unknown if there will be a fourth generation of leadership
in our family business. My children are still young, but by
the time they are twenty-five, I will be close to sixty years old. I
imagine that I will not want to be working sixty hours a week at
that point, and it is possible that my children may not want to
step into a leadership role in Baker Rock. So we will either have
to evolve as a company and have a person outside the family
running our operation, or come up with an alternative option
to keep the business going. It makes me sad to think that one
day I may be faced with the decision of having to potentially
sell our family business, but that also affirms for me how much
having a family business means to me. I feel very fortunate to
be able to build upon what my father and grandfather have
built, and to get up every day knowing that I am committed to
the work that we do.
I am excited about the future of the company.
The growth potential is palpable, and we are
enthusiastic about providing a stable future
for our employees. I know that we have a fair
amount of folks who are not at retirement age
yet, but who have five to fifteen years to go
before then. It is my hope that they will continue
to work for us, building upon the skills they have
developed and everything they have learned
from their experiences with the company. When
they do retire, it is important to us to continue
to bring in new employees who will want to
become long-term members of our team and
grow with the company in the years to come.
– Gary T. Baker
175

Acknowledgments
by Todd Baker
In August 2011, I was in Alaska with my father and seven
Baker Rock employees on a fishing trip. We were celebrating
their twenty-five-plus years of service with the company. One
night we were sitting around the campfire and the guys started
telling stories from when my grandparents ran the company. As I
listened I knew I needed to find a way to preserve the history of
our family business and all the people who have helped make it
what it is today.
Once we set the wheels in motion to create this book, my dad,
Gary T., and my aunt Jan were instrumental in bringing this
story to life. My dad spent countless hours participating in oral
history interviews, where he chronicled the history of our company
with thoughtfulness and insight. He is the bridge between
my grandfather’s generation and my own, helping to link the
three generations of our story together. My aunt Jan also shared
her memories and stories of our family history through the oral
history process, honoring my grandparents’ lives with her heartfelt
telling. Without their help, the story of Baker Rock would not
have been possible.
Thanks to Jim Records and Keith Peal for contributing their
personal memories and reflections on my grandparents and the
company. This process has also deepened my appreciation for
all the vendors and suppliers whose ongoing support has helped
Baker Rock Resources to grow and succeed. Lisa Kagan and her
team at Family Heirloom Arts played a pivotal role in helping
to bring all the pieces of this book together. Lisa’s guidance and
leadership throughout the process have been invaluable.
Last but certainly not the least, I would like to thank all of the
men and women who have spent time working at Baker Rock
Resources. Their hard work and professionalism over the last
sixty years have provided the foundation for Baker Rock to not
only endure but to thrive.
177

Gary Todd Baker & Janice Colleen Baker
Great-grandparents
Harrison
Edward Baker
b. 11 Mar 1868
bp. Silver Creek, IL
d. 6 Oct 1941
dp. Greeley, CO
m. 29 Jul 1888
mp. Hebron, NE
Bertha Agnes
Davis Baker
b. 29 Apr 1871
bp. Cedar Rapids,
IA
d. 23 Sep 1932
dp. Greeley, CO
William Martin
Cruse
b. 5 May 1866
bp. Tazwells Co., IL
d. 1 Jun 1961
dp. Portland, OR
Elsie C. Cary
b. 1 Jun 1874
bp. Sterling, NE
d. 24 Sep 1966
dp. Hillsboro, OR
Melvin Huntley
Dally
b. 6 July 1860
bp. Roseville, IL
d. 10 Aug 1944
dp. Ravenna, NE
m. 4 Jul 1886
Olive Jane
Booth
b. 9 Jun 1868
bp. Leon, IA
d. 1956
dp. Ravenna, NE
Marion Ellsworth
Robertson
b. 21 Aug 1863
bp. Adams, IL
d. 8 Oct 1950
dp. Auburn, WA
m. abt 1888
mp. York, NE
Eudora E.
Rogers
b. 19 Jun 1869
bp. IA
d. 11 Oct 1956
dp. Norfolk, NE
Harvey Earl Baker
b. 21 Mar 1891
bp. Hebron, NE
d. 22 Mar 1960
dp. Hillsboro, OR
m. 8 Sep 1915
mp. Lincoln, NE
Ruth Evelyn Cruse
b. 11 Jan 1893
bp. Burchard, NE
d. 1 Aug 1989
dp. Hillsboro, OR
Walter Glen Dally
b. 13 Sep 1887
bp. Seward, NE
d. 13 Jul 1969
dp. Bridgeport, NE
m. 11 May 1907
mp. Lincoln, NE
Wilma Opal
Robertson
b. 11 May 1888
bp. NE
d. 24 Aug 1987
dp. Vancouver, WA
Gerald Allen Baker
b. 7 Apr 1917
bp. Guiderock, NE
d. 19 Jan 1991
dp. Yuma, AZ
Violet Dally
b. 28 Mar 1918
bp. Scottsbluff, NE
d. 9 Aug 2003
dp. Hillsboro, OR
Gary Todd Baker
b. 26 Apr 1942
bp. Longview, WA
Janice Colleen Baker
b. 23 Sep 1946
bp. Forest Grove, OR
178

Gerald Allen Baker & Violet Dally
Descendants
Gerald Allen Baker
b. 7 Apr 1917
bp. Guiderock, NE
d. 19 Jan 1991
dp. Yuma, AZ
& Violet Dally
b. 28 Mar 1918
bp. Scottsbluff, NE
d. 9 Aug 2003
dp. Hillsboro, OR
m. 17 Dec 1938
mp. Harrisburg, NE
Gary Todd Baker
b. 26 Apr 1942
bp. Longview, WA
& Kathie Ann Prince
b. 7 Jun 1946
bp. Portland, OR
m. 6 Jun 1968
mp. Portland, OR
Gary Todd Baker
b. 26 Apr 1942
bp. Longview, WA
& Dixie Lee Peterson
b. 6 Aug 1955
bp. Portland, OR
m. 30 Jul 1990
mp. Washington Co., OR
Todd Allen Baker
b. 7 Jul 1970
bp. Portland, OR
& Nicole Angela Postlewait
b. 9 Apr 1973
bp. Portland, OR
m. 12 Sep 1998
mp. Portland, OR
Meredith Ann Baker
b. 21 Aug 1973
bp. Portland, OR
Vincent Phillup Ramirez
b. 20 Jul 1977
bp. Portland, OR
& Christina Theresa Allan
b. 8 Dec 1983
bp. Tacoma, WA
m. 28 May 2006
mp. Wenatchee, WA
Rigoberto Jesus Ramirez
b. 8 Feb 1983
bp. Portland, OR
Madison Angela Baker
b. 14 Mar 2001
bp. Portland, OR
Lauren Ann Baker
b. 19 Jan 2004
bp. Portland, OR
Samantha Marie
(Ramirez) Wimbles
b. 13 Nov 2006
bp. Wenatchee, WA
Janice Colleen Baker
b. 23 Sep 1946
bp. Forest Grove, OR
& Fred Carlson
b. 8 Sep 1953
bp. Stuttgart, Germany
m. 8 Jan 1982
mp. Hillsboro, OR
Stephanie Ann Carlson
b. 4 Sep 1973
bp. Portland, OR
Chelsea Colleen Carlson
b. 27 Oct 1982
bp. Portland, OR
& Mark Anthony Hudzinski
b. 10 Nov 1982
bp. Madison, WI
m. 7 Aug 2004
mp. Washington Co., OR
Jordan Anthony Carlson
b. 11 Sep 1986
bp. Portland, OR
Brendan Couture
b. 9 Jun 2004
bp. Portland, OR
Jocelyn Colleen
Hudzinski
b. 18 Jul 2011
bp. Portland, OR
Camden Anthony
Hudzinski
b. 3 Mar 2014
bp. Portland, OR
179