Steve Baker (2013)
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Steve Baker (1941-2022) On February 6, 1985, Steve Baker sat in the home of Joan Bonholtzer, busily scribbling notes from the first meeting of officers of the Monrovia Historical Museum. Would he have believed it if he had been told that he would spend the next six years of his life laboring in the trenches with the other people in the room to establish a quality museum for the City of Monrovia? Perhaps he might have, but he could never have imagined that after the museum’s official opening in 1992, he would spend the next 25 years working as museum docent, board member, historian, painter, mover of heavy furniture, master of ceremonies and janitor.
And he was to find that the hard work in establishing the museum was just the beginning. Over the years, the museum faced challenges, not the least of which was the sudden death of Steve’s dear friend Kris Mariconda, who had served on the board with Steve from the beginning; and the departure from the organization of other good friends, including Mark Still, the museum’s curator, and Denise Trentalange, the museum manager of collections. |
Founding Board Members - Steve Baker at front right. (October 1992)
Through it all, Steve held the board and museum together. He later moved on to a project very dear to his heart as well as important to Monrovia. He reactivated the board of the Monrovia Historical Society and became involved with the Legacy Project, which organized and preserved Steve’s collection of Monrovia memorabilia as well as the knowledge of early Monrovia people and events contained in that remarkable memory of his.
Personally, my husband, Jim Wigton, and I owe a huge debt to Steve Baker. We knew him since we moved here in 1986, and he was a great source of architectural and historical information on our own house, as well as for many other people who were attempting to restore their vintage houses. He assisted people in landmarking their houses and was a strong proponent for the preservation of Monrovia history and vintage architecture.
He was active in the founding not only of the Monrovia Historical Museum, but also the Monrovia Historical Society, and the Monrovia Historical Preservation Group (formerly the Monrovia Old House Preservation Group). Every year he spent hours researching the houses featured on the Preservation Group’s vintage home tour and writing their histories for tour brochure.
Steve also assisted me in my own online project, earlymonroviastructures.org, by advising students from Cal Poly Pomona who designed the website, taking phone calls at any time of the day and late into the evening; discussing the fate of preservation in Monrovia over margaritas; and attempting to identify vintage photographs over wine after museum board meetings.
Thanks for the memories, Steve, and for your service to the City of Monrovia.
- Written by and shared with permission from Pam Barkas, 2022
Personally, my husband, Jim Wigton, and I owe a huge debt to Steve Baker. We knew him since we moved here in 1986, and he was a great source of architectural and historical information on our own house, as well as for many other people who were attempting to restore their vintage houses. He assisted people in landmarking their houses and was a strong proponent for the preservation of Monrovia history and vintage architecture.
He was active in the founding not only of the Monrovia Historical Museum, but also the Monrovia Historical Society, and the Monrovia Historical Preservation Group (formerly the Monrovia Old House Preservation Group). Every year he spent hours researching the houses featured on the Preservation Group’s vintage home tour and writing their histories for tour brochure.
Steve also assisted me in my own online project, earlymonroviastructures.org, by advising students from Cal Poly Pomona who designed the website, taking phone calls at any time of the day and late into the evening; discussing the fate of preservation in Monrovia over margaritas; and attempting to identify vintage photographs over wine after museum board meetings.
Thanks for the memories, Steve, and for your service to the City of Monrovia.
- Written by and shared with permission from Pam Barkas, 2022