Cliff was born in Maplecrest, NY to the late Dot and Walter Baker on October 8, 1933.
He attended Windam Ashland Jewett (WAJ) high school, where he played basketball under Coach Mackey, and graduated in 1951. Cliff married Elvamae nee Cramer on August 22, 1953. He earned a BA from Roberts Wesleyan College while working full time at GE, and an MS from SUNY Oneonta. He taught grade six at WAJ for 4 years, was NY’s youngest school superintendent, and enjoyed a successful career with NYS Superintendent of Schools.
Cliff retired in 1990 and moved to Portland, TX then Corpus Christi ,TX where he was an active member of First Baptist of Corpus Christi and the missionary team’s welding instructor on visits to Double Harvest Haiti and Uganda. For several years Cliff and Elvamae summered in the Northville, NY “Cramer Homestead” house he renovated.
Upon moving to The Villages, FL in 2008; Cliff was a deacon at the First Baptist Church The Villages, and “Clerk of the Works” for their new facility construction. Cliff was known for his strong work ethic, golf game, snowmobile racing, stone masonry, and enjoyment of the NY Yankees and NY Giants.
Cliff is survived by his wife of 70 years Elvamae; his siblings Harold, Jean (Stan) Bechtle, Jere (Diane); sisters in law Betty Baker and Bonnie Cramer; his children Randy (Elizabeth) Baker, Brenda (Walt) Tibbet, Suzanne (Darin Alperin) Baker, Darrell (Eva Marina) Baker, Travis (De Leica) Baker; grandchildren Sheryl and Tim Benedict, Lynne and James Hanson, Tiffany and Rob Bisenius, Jae and Adam Dewald, Dwight and Katie Baker, Sammy and Sky Grinnell, Jacquie and Luke Moore, Jeremy Baker; and great grandchildren Max, Eloise, Annabelle, Andrew, Sterling, and Samson; and many nieces and nephews. His eldest brother Don preceded him in death.