Ruben Baker Jr.

Published in the Cape Cod Times on 7/20/2008

WELLFLEET — Captain Reuben
Rich Baker Jr. died peacefully on Sunday, July 13, 2008, at Belvernon,
his Wellfleet home, after a short illness. He was 81 and passed at his
usual bedtime, surrounded by family.

Captain Baker was born in
Milton on March 2, 1927, to Reuben R. Baker Sr. and his wife, the
former Irene Wallen. Grandson of Captain Lorenzo Dow Baker, he spent
the first 15 years of his life at Belvedere, the family plantation near
Morant Bay on the island of Jamaica. In the middle of World War II, his
family made its way from Jamaica back to the United States in a
British-escorted convoy of fruit ships that originated in South America
and landed in St. Petersburg, Fla.

At 17, he began attending the
Maritime Institute in Baltimore, Md., and joined the Merchant Marines.
He worked and studied his way from mess boy to captain. He served on
supply ships during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and
the Gulf War. He worked in every ocean and sea in the world, including
carrying sugar around the Pacific rim, moving container ships around
the Atlantic, laying cable off the coast of Mexico, and tending oil
rigs off Alaska and in the North Sea. One highlight of his career was
his work around the world on the Lulu, Knorr and Atlantis II research
vessels for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution from 1972 to 1989.
He was Master of Atlantis II, the support vessel for worldwide deep-sea
explorations using the submersible, Alvin, during Bob Ballard’s
discovery and first explorations of the Titanic in 1986.

Throughout
his life, Captain Baker was an avid model-railroad builder. He was an
active member of several model railroad associations, including the
Nauset, Cape Cod and San Diego clubs. He was a popular speaker at
schools, libraries, historical and nautical organizations, and, of
course, dinner parties.

Captain Baker is survived by his sons,
Reuben L. R. Baker and Sean D. Baker; six grandchildren, Caitlyn,
Benjamin, Zachary, Jeremiah, Alyssa and Joseph; a sister, Irene Helmes;
and four nieces and five nephews. He was predeceased by his two
brothers, Thomas H. Baker Sr. and Fredrick H. Baker Sr.

A
memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. on July 27, 2008, at the United
Methodist Church in Wellfleet. In lieu of flowers, donations can be
made directly to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Taylor’s Point,
101 Academy Drive, Buzzards Bay, MA 02635-3400, in memory of Captain
Reuben R. Baker Jr. A private burial will be held at a later date.

Nickerson Funeral Home
508-255-0259