News
Alumni Notes | July 2024
Obituaries
Clifford Baker '55 (English) Clifford (Cliff) Baker, 90, of The Villages FL passed away July 11, 2024 in Davis Hospice Center Cheyenne, WY. 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.
Rev. M. Russell Lee ‘55 Reverend Milton Russell Lee, 85 years old, entered eternal life at his home in Dexter, NY on June 25, 2024. Russell was a graduate of Dexter High School, Roberts Wesleyan University (class of ‘62), and New York Theological Seminary, and was ordained as an Elder in the United Methodist Church in 1967. During his 38 years in ministry, he served congregations in St. Regis Falls, Nicholville, Fort Jackson, Norwood, Massena, Elmira, and Sherrill. From 1980 to 1986, he served as the District Superintendent of the St. Lawrence District. A life-long sports fan, Russell fondly remembered serving as editor of the Sports section of The Beacon during his years at Roberts. It was also at Roberts that he met Frances Marion Hibbard ‘60, a native of Ontario, Canada, with whom he celebrated 62 years of marriage, and raised a “three-generation” Roberts family.
Marion is joined in loving and missing him by their three children - Murray (Karen and her son Noah), Douglas ‘93 (Christine ‘92 and Roberts staff 2007-2022), and Carolyn; five grandchildren - Kaitlin ‘12 & ‘14, Matthew (Michelle), Madelyn (Roberts staff 2017-19) (Kyle), Zoë and Leo; and two great grandchildren - Patrick and Mackenzie.