Melvin Lavoiser Baker Obituary (1942 - 2024)

Born Nov 22, 1942, Melvin Lavoiser Baker attended Evan E. Worthing High School in Houston, TX. View the obituary, post a memory, or share a photo about Melvin Lavoiser Baker.

Graduation Year	Class of 1961
Date of Birth	Nov 22, 1942
Date of Passing	Oct 17, 2024
About	https://www.rossmortuaryinc.com/obituary/melvin-baker Melvin L. Baker’s Celebration of Life Tribute Even before the term “Girl Dad” was coined, my father was the OGD (Original Girl Dad). He was born on Thanksgiving Day on the 22nd of November in the year of Lord – 1942 to Melvin and Geraldine (Moore) Baker at Prairie View Hospital in Prairie View, Texas. They named their baby boy Melvin Lavoiser Baker. Note: He was NOT a junior. The only child of the childhood sweethearts was surrounded by a whole village of love including from the Moores, Scotts, Rabbs and others on his mother’s side and the Bakers, Clarks and Thompsons on his paternal side, all in Brookshire. The young family moved to Houston before Little Melvin entered primary school. As a child, the Moores and his maternal Brookshire Family made faith and church a centerpiece in his life. From an early age, he attended Grant Memorial Church of God in Christ with his grandparents in Brookshire and Greater Law Memorial Church of God in Christ in Houston. As a boy, my father recalled watching from his window the late Rev Hoxie Perry, Jr, the late Rev J.T. Hart, Sr., the late Harold Catchings, Sr. and others form the Mt Moriah Missionary Baptist Church, which was located across the street from his boyhood home on Wilmington. Miss Effie Lenued is the only remaining charter member from this group. And in May, 2006, he joined Mt Moriah through baptism. He supported activities of the Men’s Ministry and enjoyed attending Sunday Service and other church events. Melvin was educated in the Houston Independent School District beginning with Brock Elementary School around 1949 continuing on to Miller Junior High School graduating in 1957 before matriculating to Evan E. Worthing High School where he was a defensive lineman on the Colts football team. He earned his high school diploma in 1961. Summers in his youth were spent in Brookshire where he worked alongside his maternal grandfather Charlie “Pop” Moore on the family farm; enjoyed the great cooking and loving affection of his maternal grandmother Lula “Gran” Moore; and the adoring attention of his maternal aunts – Leverie “Auntie” Moore and Vernell “Shute” Bryant (nee Moore). Years later, his brother cousins Raymond Charles and Reginald Delano Bryant along with Cousin Luther Leonard would join his merry crew. As Gran would say: Melvin was the short fuse; Raymond Charles was the worker; Reggie was the jokester; and Luther Leonard was the talker. And when not working with Pop, he rode around the area on the family mare Susie and honed his hunting and fishing skills with Pop and cousins Kookie & George Scott as well as with his paternal clan including with one of his father’s younger brothers – Willie, Jr. Raymond Charles recently remarked that history and the movies had Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, but it was his Cousin Melvin who was his hunting hero. After his parents divorced - and while his father was still in his life, it was his Aunt Shute’s husband - Uncle Raymon – who stood in the gap … taking him to Boy Scouts activities, fishing, and teaching him many positive life lessons. In 1959, his mother united in marriage with Jimmie Johnson. Big Papa became a stalwart and steadying influence throughout my father’s life. Steering him from the teen years into manhood. Modeling to him how to be a good husband just by how he treated and cherished my Big Mama. My Dad once said, “Jimmie won me over; I gave him a hard time. Because it was just me and Mama. But he was strong, and he stayed right there.” Under the watchful eye of his paternal grandmother – Mama Sarah, summers were also spent teaching him many life lessons including that he did not want to become a farmer! So at 14 - since he was big for his age, he secured a job as a plumbing apprentice and laborer with the International Plumbing Company. He worked at International for about three summers during high school and spent one summer in his senior year working at General Electric. Upon his high school graduation, Melvin attended Texas Southern University from 1961 to 1963 and was No.77 as part of the D-Line for the Fighting Tigers. In the summer of 1962, life intervened when he met the love of his life Diane Denise Randolph, the best friend of his cousin Ethel Benton (nee Johnson) – during Mama’s summer break from Fisk University in Nashville. The couple married on February 22, 1963, and to this union was born Sonja Michele (June,1963) and Kimberley Renee (September, 1965). One day, Daddy and I were talking and he muttered: “I’m the only boy in a family of three girls.” He continued to ponder this issue until 15 years ago when God brought Elvis L. Wilkerson into our lives and blessed us all immensely. Unbeknownst to both men, they were father and son. And with the addition of his son, he gained a daughter-in-love Phyllis Wilkerson; grandchildren – Anthony, Marquita and Brice Wilkerson; and three great grandchildren – Christian, Joshua and Peyton Wilkerson. He would return to TSU to complete his Bachelor of Industrial Education degree in the early 1970s. He worked as a machinist at Hughes Tools from 1964 to 1986 before eventually retiring as a forklift driver at Budweiser – an Anheuser Busch company - in 2005. Along the way, he was an advocate for workers rights and was active in the AFL-CIO labor union. He served a number of years as president of the Hughes Tool Social Club – site of union meetings and activities and also home to the famous Baker Family New Years Day Wild Game Dinner. On October 17, 2024, Melvin joined the ancestors in our Father’s heavenly home. He leaves to cherish his memory: His loving wife of 62 years - Diane; daughters – Sonja Michele & Kimberley Renee Baker; son Elvis Wilkerson (Phyllis); grandchildren – Anthony (Shamara), Marquita and Brice Wilkerson; and great grandchildren – Christian, Joshua and Peyton Wilkerson. He also leaves to remember him his precious sisters – Stephayne Manley; Wanda Baker-Paul (Patric, Sr.), Chassie Matthews (Gary); aunts – Charlie Mae Bunton and Mary Morrison (Gene); uncles – Hubert; Bernestine (Lynn) and James Clark. Also: Cousin brothers Luther Leonard; Raymond Charles Bryant (Kathy), Reginald Bryant; longtime friend and brother – Gale Wesley Benton (Faye) and high school friend Ruston Malveaux (Dorothy); a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Special recognition to the following families: Wagners, Dotsons, Harrisons, Vernons, Jenkinses, and Varners.