Celebrant Pam Meily Vetter


	Celebrating Life Everyone Has A Story...

James Albert Baber was born in California to his parents Constance and Albert in 1922 and was raised with his sister, Mary. His mother was a stay-at-home mom, while his father worked as an insurance underwriter. Jim was greatly influenced by his father who was honest and a hard worker. His father was also very regimented and liked having a routine. Jim's boyhood years were always the most memorable to him. There was quite a history on his mother's side with the Rynerson family. The Rynersons owned a huge 60-acre ranch and Jim was fond of going out to the ranch as a young child. The ranch is now located within a preserved historical district. Jim was fascinated with how things worked as he was growing up, so it made sense that engineering would be in his future. After graduating from high school, he voluntarily joined the Navy and served some time overseas. He served his country proudly from 1942 to 1945 during World War II.

Through the GI Bill, he pursued higher education. Jim idolized his sister, Mary, and following in her footsteps, he attended the University of Southern California. He graduated from USC and earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. After graduation, Jim was offered a job at Hughes Aircraft and worked with top-secret guided missiles systems. He also worked directly or indirectly with Howard Hughes and saw the Spruce Goose in person. During his years at Hughes Aircraft, Jim saw some of the first computers – the size that would fill a room. In many ways, Jim's work became a part of history. For the next 39 and a half years, he worked for Hughes Aircraft and loved his work.

Jim was married for two years and had a daughter who they named Holly. After his divorce, he fell in love with Alberta and the couple had two children, Karen and Tim. He cared deeply for all of his children and he was a good father. He did everything to perfection and applied the same standards of perfection to himself and everyone else. He planned many fun adventures for the family. There were family summer vacations to Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, and Las Vegas. There were also many visits to see Alberta's mother who lived in San Jose. Jim liked taking trips and he filmed everything with his state-of-the-art video camera.

In his free time, Jim was a ham radio buff, an interest that developed in his childhood. His interest was not in broadcasting, but he liked to build, repair, and listen. He had a very scientific mind. He lived for routine, just like his father, and it gave him comfort. He was an organizer and a planner extraordinaire and always thought through everything logically. Saturdays were always a big day in the family household and there was usually something special planned. Jim loved going out with his wife Saturday nights and/or taking the family out for dinner. He was very much a steak and potatoes kind of guy. As a treat, he enjoyed drinking a screwdriver now and then and in the morning, he was a coffee drinker.

In the early 60s, the family bought their dream home in Woodland Hills when Jim worked at the Hughes Aircraft plant. When Hughes moved to Culver City, the family relocated. When the company moved again, the family moved back to the San Fernando Valley, first to Chatsworth and finally settling into their Woodland Hills home in 1971. Wherever they lived, Jim loved to garden and enjoyed the work of keeping his yard picture perfect. It was a process he enjoyed. He also liked doing home projects and making improvements to the house.

The family always celebrated birthdays. For special holidays, a patriotic Jim flew the American flag in front of his home. The family always enjoyed Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays together. Jim had special knives to carve the turkey with. Quite the baker, Jim often baked Christmas fudge and his white sugar cookies were the best. Alberta and her mother were also wonderful bakers. Jim loved making his own ice cream with ice cream machines. Black Angus was his favorite restaurant and one of his favorite meals was spaghetti.

As the kids were growing up and got involved with 4H, the family started raising rabbits. ”Engineer Jim” designed and built two eight-foot long cages himself. They had more than a dozen New Zealand Reds and Checkered Giant rabbits. He liked animals. When Alberta wanted a dog, they got a little daschund that they named Toby. After the kids moved out, they tried a couple of dogs but a wild calico cat named Susie who “came with the house” was the cat who liked Jim best and he was the only one who could pet her.

Jim always loved Big Band music by Benny Goodman and he enjoyed songs by Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong. With many talents, Jim loved to play the organ, as they had a wonderful organ in their home. Karen even learned how to play the organ. He loved music. His kids remember it was a special treat when Jim laughed and it made everybody feel good when he was laughing. Laurel and Hardy always made him laugh. Over the years, he recorded his favorite shows such as I Love Lucy, Andy Griffith, and he loved classic movies on AMC. His favorite saying was, “Nothing but the best for Baber.”

Jim had a love of cars. He kept his cars immaculate and they were always garaged with great care. He loved going to auto dealers and driving cars, to see if he could get the best deal. He followed Consumer Reports for big purchases. He was smart about investment strategies and believed in the earning power of CDs. He subscribed to AARP, Reader's Digest, and Tim bought him a subscription to Handy Man. Jim loved to work with his hands as much as his mind. He was very talented in woodworking. With his engineering background, he drew up the design, planned a project and then built it. He built a retaining wall, which was the only one on the block that withstood the 1971 Sylmar earthquake. Jim designed and built several pieces of furniture for their house over the years. For him, those projects were great fun and presented a true challenge.

When they became empty nesters, Alberta and Jim traveled to Hawaii for a wonderful trip with Alberta's mother and her husband, Ray. After he retired from Hughes Aircraft, Alberta went back to work as an interior designer. She was very artistically talented and her paintings are hanging all through the house. Jim tried his hand at oil painting, a toucan by the way, still hangs proudly in his house. For the 15 years that Alberta worked, Jim kept the house clean and had dinner on the table every evening when she came home. They really had a wonderful partnership and balanced each other quite well. He was very generous and always took Alberta to special dinners out to restaurants to celebrate their anniversaries.

In 2000, Jim beat bladder cancer. Sadly, a year later, Alberta passed away after being diagnosed with lung cancer. For two years, they had battled it together. He was blessed to have her in his life for 47 years. Her death was so very hard for him, but he was with her until the end as she passed away at home. Tim and his wife took him on trips to Las Vegas to get his mind off of things, but he really recreated the house as a shrine to Alberta. He missed her presence.

Through the years, Jim followed USC College football and watched the games regularly. A devoted Republican, his family bought him Sarah Palin's book this past Christmas, which he enjoyed reading it. For the past nine years, Tim and his wife often took Jim out to dinner on Saturday night and Karen called every day or every other day to check on him, listen and chat about his daily activities. He and Karen, who has multiple sclerosis, shared similar physical symptoms and so they talked a lot by phone, while it was easier for Tim to visit in person.

It was Jim's wish to stay in his own home until end of life and his family honored his wishes. He was still going to the market, still driving and taking care of himself and the house until about January 2010. This past February, only a few months ago, he finally gave up the keys to his car. For the last month and a half, he had a wonderful caregiver, Debbie McGuire, and they got along very well. Jim loved watching the Food Channel and one of his caregivers was a chef and so they made one of the TV recipes together. He enjoyed that experience.

Three days before his passing, Jim was reflecting on life. He was sharp as a tack and had a lot of time to prepare. Tim is so grateful that he got to spend three days with him and was able to show him how much he loved him. Jim's daughter, Holly, was by as his side as he passed away.

The best parts of Jim's life were his work, his marriage of 47 years, and his family. He was fiercely independent and lived his life that way. He lived a superb example of a decent, simple, honest life. His purpose in life was to be a great provider to his family. Jim Baber will be remembered as a hardworking man of sterling integrity. He was brilliant and yet modest. Tim will miss his presence and knowing that his father was there as a sounding board. Karen feels as if she has “lost her rock”. Jim's advice to everyone would be to remember him but move on with your life. It was his request to be cremated and have his memorial service at Gates Kingsley Gates Praiswater Mortuary in Canoga Park, where his wife's service was held. His family has honored his wishes. Alberta was Catholic, Jim's ashes will be laid to rest with his wife's ashes at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery.

Jim was preceded in death by his wife Alberta, his parents, and his sister, Mary Baber-Henry. He is loved and remembered by his daughter Holly; daughter Karen; son Tim and daughter-in-law Sarah; grandchildren Mark, Wendy, John, Rob, Christina, Timothy, Donna, Bruce, Wendy and Kelly; great-grandchildren Patrick, Ashton, Kristopher, Derek (DJ), Danica, Andrew, and newest great-granddaughter Layla born, June 4, 2010; and his extended family, caregiver Debbie and many friends.