Wilbur Paul Baker was born in Leon, Iowa, to Clarence Wilbur “Wib” and Luella Nadine (Reynolds) Baker on October 29, 1932. A proud Southsider, he attended Abraham Lincoln High School in Des Moines, where he was a member of the Air Force ROTC. He left school early to serve in the Air Force with the 132nd Motor Vehicle Squadron during the Korean Conflict in Bangor, Maine, and Korea, earning the Korean Service Medal and the United Nations Service Medal.
Upon his discharge, Paul lived in San Jose, California, where he met and married Bernadette A. Reed, the mother of their three sons. The family returned to Iowa in 1971. He later met Donna Virginia Boetel at a friend’s wedding reception in West Des Moines, and they married on his birthday in 1983. Paul worked for Dahl’s Foods in Des Moines as a member of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters & Butcher Workers of North America, completing a 24-year career at the East Euclid and later the Clive locations.
In retirement, Paul found joy in reading, golfing, word puzzles, billiards, and cribbage. From 2003 onward, he and Donna divided their time between homes in Bayfield, Wisconsin, and Florida before returning to Iowa in 2020. He cherished walking his dog Bailey, napping with his cat Punkin, attending his grandchildren’s events, and traveling internationally with Donna. One of the proudest moments of his life was his Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., in May 2014, where he visited the Korean War Memorial and other national monuments.
Paul was preceded in death by his first wife, Bernadette, his parents, sisters Veronia, Virginia (Fred), Kay (Jim), and Sue (Gale), brothers Robert (infant) and David (Chris), and is survived by his wife Donna, sons John, James (Dawna), and Joseph (Lisa), stepchildren Kim (Mike), Scott (Debbie), and Karla, his youngest brother Don, grandchildren Jody, Ryan (Melissa), Jamie, Amy, Emily (Cory), and Madeline, great-grandchildren Stacie (Jesse), Zach, Jackson, Baylee, Brennan, Brody, Alivia, Rhiannon, Camryn, Ethan, Mason, Zoe, and Calvin, great-great-grandson Jude, and many nieces and nephews. The family is especially grateful for the devoted care provided by his son Jim in Paul’s final years.
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