He became the man of the house when his dad died in a farming accident when he was only 13. When his brother was killed in an accident at 17 he dropped out of school in the 12th grade at 18 to help support his mother and 5 sisters. He married Henrietta in 1936. Leonard and his family lived in Portland, Oregon for a year where he worked in the ship yard during the early years of WWII. They moved back to Kentucky and lived in Newport to find work. They moved to Ohio in the late 40's and has lived in the house that he built in Blanchester for over 60 years. He worked at the Irwin Auger bit Co. 33 years and has been retired over 25 years. He took great pride in doing wood working in his garage. At age 70 he went to the vocational school to take a course in woodworking after retiring and liked it so well he took it twice. He loved to raise a large garden to share with family. He and Pearl loved to fish and spent two weeks in Canada every summer for nearly 20 years. Leonard never met a stranger, he loved people. Leave him alone a few minutes in a waiting room and he could tell you not only where everyone near him lived, but what kind of music they liked and if they were Wildcat fans. He loved basketball, especially UK. He kept his copy of the March Madness Tournament Results for years.. His baseball team was the Cincinnati Reds, he spoke to the coaches on radio and TV as if he knew them personally. He played the banjo and guitar and had a lifelong love of playing bluegrass music. He will be remembered by all who knew him as a quiet, gentle giant of a man even though he was barely 5'6" who always loved unconditionally. He was the dear son of the late Lewis and Minah (nee Brewer) Baker and the eldest of 7 children. He married the late Henrietta Pearl Baker (nee Wierman) on December 2, 1936 who passed away March 11, 2010. Dear father of Alwena Marie Hollon and the late Leonard Baker Jr. who passed away in 2005. Leonard was also the proud grandfather of Chad, Lennie, Brett, Mark and Scarlett, 13 great grandchildren and 6 great gret grandchildren. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Community Care Hospice P.O. Box 123 Wilmington, OH 45177.