Interview with
Pat and Jerry Baker
by Patt Buell
Published April 7, 2004
Some of you may remember Pat and Jerry Baker. They attended this year's awards banquet - the Region's 50th Anniversary. The Bakers joined the Nebraska Region in February, 1962. That's right - 1962!
Their first sports car was a 1959 MGA. Later they ran slaloms and rallies with a 1962 TR4 (White) and later a 1965 TR4 (Green). Jerry's last slalom was run in 1980 in Lincoln, driving a Plymouth Champ.
Jerry and Pat ran a lot of rallies and gymkhanas (slaloms) in the 1960's and 1970's. Jerry laughed as he said, "I did pretty good in the slaloms but not so good in the rallies." (You can read his articles and more from this period in the "Notes" Section of this website).
But let's go back a ways in time ... When Jerry was in high school he had a paper route and saved all his money from this job. When he was a little older he used the money to start taking flying lessons. In his lifetime he's flown J3 Cubs, Cessna 150's, 172's and 182's out of the Blair Airport (formerly Flightland). He received his license January 28, 1978 and flew actively until September 14, 1986 - the last entry in his Pilot Log Book.
Jerry and Pat were married in 1951. They had 3 children; Renee, Lea Ann, and Jay. Of course, the kids grew up in the SCCA. Renee told me at Christmas, that her dad told her she had to drive a slalom, hit no pylons and without a DNF - before she could get her drivers license. She said she did it and was very proud of doing it, even though she wasn't very fast at the time.
Jerry was R.E. in 1967. He says the hardest part about being R.E. in the 60's was "Everyone wanted to run the events but no one wanted to put them on, or even help with them." Then he said, "That's probably changed now with so many members." I really had to chuckle. I said, "No, not much has changed."
Pat was editor in the mid-60's, she claims it was by default with the help of Barb Gunther. She also wrote many stories for the Exhaust Notes, in the mid-to late 60's. (You can read her articles in the "Notes" Section.)
When Pat was editor it was a family project. They had an old mimeograph machine, an AB Dick brand, and incidentally still have it. Even the kids helped with the newsletter. Renee said she remembered breathing the fumes from the mimeograph. "You could probably get high on the purple junk with the ether smell." But they had fun.
Jerry and Pat also reminisced about the many rallies. Some times they took the kids and sometimes Pat stayed home with them. He mentioned running a night rally in Lincoln. He and his navigator decide to run "seat of the pants" because they didn't have a pencil or paper. His competition thought he knew what he was doing and spaced themselves far enough back and ahead of him, as they thought he was on time. Actually they had gotten lost and then got back on course, finishing second. "When everyone found out we had run 'seat of the pants', I think they were upset."
Jerry talked about a "Hare & Hound" rally - he and his navigator got lost on this one, too. But they found some more lime bags later and finished. The event master asked some questions about the course (including milage) and at the end of the event they played dumb, saying "Yes, we saw that."
Through the years Jerry has also built many R. C. model airplanes but when it got too expensive he went to full scale flying. He retired on Friday, January 13, 1989 (early - as the company he worked for closed their doors that day) and he changed hobbies. He read books - over 2000 plus. Then he bought a computer and loves it but he still is an avid reader. (He now has all the books he's read listed on his computer.)
He and Pat both bowl on leagues. Pat carries an average of 150 - not bad for someone who is now legally blind (from diabetes). And Jerry, who has always been left handed, now bowls right handed (because of injury to his left arm) and has his average up to 152. "Not bad for a lefty."
In December 2003, Jerry stumbled onto the NRSCCA history site and they sent me an email. That's when I called them. I talked to Pat, then Jerry and finally, Renee (who was home visiting for the Holidays). We must have talked over an hour catching up on on all our lives. At this time Pat and Jerry decided to come to the Award Banquet in January 2004.
They brought me 7 boxes of slides from the 1963, 1964 and 1965. (Three of the photos on this page are from those 7 boxes, and most of the slides will eventually be included on this site.) The slides are from Omaha Auto Shows, rallies, races at Greenwood Raceway and Lake Garnet, and some taken at autocrosses with plastic milk jugs filled with water (pylons were not used at that period in time).
I told Jerry the race slides had some great shots, and he laughed and said. "I got into the races with a Press Pass so I could get close. I told them I wrote and took pictures for a local paper (the Exhaust Notes)."
Then Pat and Jerry asked me about the new track (MidAmerica Motorplex) and could they maybe come out sometime? I told them I'm sure we could get them in - without "Press Passes."
