Harold Vernon Baker, Jr.

It is with great love and sadness that we announce the loss of Harold Vernon Baker, Jr. who passed away on March 26th, 2025 at 64 years old in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Vernon was born on November 15th, 1960 in Tallahassee Florida into a military family. His father was Harold Vernon Baker, Sr. and his mother was Joyce Lee Potts. He grew up mostly in La Junta, Colorado but also lived at different times in Germany, New York, Indiana, and New Hampshire. He lived and worked in New Mexico for the past 28 years raising two children there with his former wife, Lori Baker.

Alongside his brother, he became an Eagle Scout at the age of twelve as a member of Boy Scout Troop 232. He was a walk-on football player his senior year in Kaiserslautern, Germany while attending the American High School there. He graduated from Purdue University in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. He then attended officer training school and served in the Air Force from 1982 to 1988 rising to the rank of Captain before continuing as a civilian.

Vernon Baker had over 40 years of service in the Department of the Air Force, serving as the Technical Advisor for the Integrated Experiments and Evaluations Division at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. In this role he advised Air Force and Space Force leaders on the development and transition of first-of-a-kind space flight experiments and space technology. Vernon was recognized as an Air Force Research Laboratory Lifetime Fellow in 2007 for his world-class atmospheric science experimental work and for pioneering the use of small satellites for emerging Department of Defense space missions. His contributions throughout these years of service have greatly improved the national security space enterprise and have grown a cadre of space engineering expertise in both government and industry.

He enjoyed many hobbies over the years including boating, fishing, and hunting,

having just completed a once-in-a-lifetime Oryx hunt in October at the White Sands Missile Range. He loved crafts and was talented at wood-working and wildlife photography, often capturing on camera New Mexico’s beautiful birds. He loved hot air balloons, crewing at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta and beyond almost every year for the past two decades. He was reliable behind the wheel, known as a talented crew chief who was always somehow right where you needed him.

Vernon’s love for both his family and his country guided everything he did. As a father, friend, mentor, and colleague, Vernon is remembered for his brilliance, his kindness, his sense of humor, and his generous heart.

He was preceded in death by his father Harold Vernon Baker, Sr. and his mother Joyce Lee Potts. He is survived by his two children, Matt Baker and Chloe Baker, his older brother Kyle Baker (Carrie), and his younger sister, Brigitte Krob. He is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews and extended family members: Kylene, Jeremy, Kristin, Jennifer, Jaden, Shaylon, Josh, Anastasia, Dominic, and J.J.

A service will be held in Albuquerque at Daniels Family Funeral Home (Wyoming location at 7601 Wyoming Blvd NE Albuquerque, NM) on Monday, April 7th, 2025 at 1:30 pm with a viewing and visitation beginning at noon. Vernon will be buried in Borden, Indiana with a separate service at a later date.