1929
Cecil
2015
Cecil Baker
November 24, 1929 — November 2, 2015
Cecil Camak Baker, Jr. M.D. died Monday, November 2, 2015 at Three Crowns Park in Evanston, Illinois at age 85.
He was born in Elk City, Oklahoma on November 24, 1929, the youngest of three children of Cecil Camak Baker and Flora Blackwell Baker and the only surviving sibling following the death of his brother, William Leonard Baker in WWII at Iwo Jima and his sister, Betty Baker Smith.
He was an accomplished physician who spent his career as a neurologist and headache specialist in Minneapolis. Following his graduation from the University of Oklahoma, School of Medicine in 1956, he did an internship at the University of Virginia and started his residency in Internal Medicine at the VA Hospital in Oklahoma City. He completed his residency in neurology at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Hospital and Bellevue Hospital in New York in 1962. He then joined the Minneapolis Clinic of Psychiatry and Neurology as a neurologist. In 1985, he founded the Headache Institute of Minnesota. During his working career, he had faculty appointments at the University of Minnesota, Department of Neurology and the Department of Dentistry. He was a member of the Minnesota Medical Association, American Medical Association, American Academy of Neurology and the American Association for the Study of Headaches. He published numerous papers and presented his research on migraine headaches at several medical seminars.
In 1951, Camak married Patricia L. Donovan who preceded him in death in 1997. He later married Marilyn Long Nickell who pre-deceased him in 2013.
He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Catherine Camak (Baker) Pratt and Robert W. Pratt of Wilmette, IL; his daughter and son-in-law, Elizabeth Lee (Baker) Burns and Donald Burns of Melbourne, Australia and his son, William Camak Baker of St. Petersburg, FL. He is also survived by his nine grandchildren; Andrew, David and James Pratt; Jennifer, Stephen and Jeffrey Burns and Reid and Lyla Baker and Charlotte Bliss.
Camak grew up on his parents' dairy farm in Hobart, OK. He attended Frances Willard Elementary School in Hobart, then Hobart High School, graduating in 1948. He worked with the local veterinarian on the farm, and came to love caring for the animals. He had planned to enroll in veterinary school but instead chose to enter the medical profession. After graduating from Westminster College in 1952, he attended the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, graduating in 1956.
Camak loved life and showed it through his love of family and music. He had a fine tenor voice and sang with several church choirs. His hobbies included woodworking, fishing, skiing and golf.
Memorials may be directed to the University of Oklahoma Foundation, 100 Temberdell Road, Norman, OK, 73019. Please designate the gift for Alzheimer's Research in the College of Medicine, Department of Neurology.
Graveside Services: 11:00 a.m., Monday, November 9, 2015
Hobart Rose Cemetery, Hobart, OK, under the direction of Ray & Martha's Funeral Home, Hobart.
He was born in Elk City, Oklahoma on November 24, 1929, the youngest of three children of Cecil Camak Baker and Flora Blackwell Baker and the only surviving sibling following the death of his brother, William Leonard Baker in WWII at Iwo Jima and his sister, Betty Baker Smith.
He was an accomplished physician who spent his career as a neurologist and headache specialist in Minneapolis. Following his graduation from the University of Oklahoma, School of Medicine in 1956, he did an internship at the University of Virginia and started his residency in Internal Medicine at the VA Hospital in Oklahoma City. He completed his residency in neurology at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Hospital and Bellevue Hospital in New York in 1962. He then joined the Minneapolis Clinic of Psychiatry and Neurology as a neurologist. In 1985, he founded the Headache Institute of Minnesota. During his working career, he had faculty appointments at the University of Minnesota, Department of Neurology and the Department of Dentistry. He was a member of the Minnesota Medical Association, American Medical Association, American Academy of Neurology and the American Association for the Study of Headaches. He published numerous papers and presented his research on migraine headaches at several medical seminars.
In 1951, Camak married Patricia L. Donovan who preceded him in death in 1997. He later married Marilyn Long Nickell who pre-deceased him in 2013.
He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Catherine Camak (Baker) Pratt and Robert W. Pratt of Wilmette, IL; his daughter and son-in-law, Elizabeth Lee (Baker) Burns and Donald Burns of Melbourne, Australia and his son, William Camak Baker of St. Petersburg, FL. He is also survived by his nine grandchildren; Andrew, David and James Pratt; Jennifer, Stephen and Jeffrey Burns and Reid and Lyla Baker and Charlotte Bliss.
Camak grew up on his parents' dairy farm in Hobart, OK. He attended Frances Willard Elementary School in Hobart, then Hobart High School, graduating in 1948. He worked with the local veterinarian on the farm, and came to love caring for the animals. He had planned to enroll in veterinary school but instead chose to enter the medical profession. After graduating from Westminster College in 1952, he attended the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, graduating in 1956.
Camak loved life and showed it through his love of family and music. He had a fine tenor voice and sang with several church choirs. His hobbies included woodworking, fishing, skiing and golf.
Memorials may be directed to the University of Oklahoma Foundation, 100 Temberdell Road, Norman, OK, 73019. Please designate the gift for Alzheimer's Research in the College of Medicine, Department of Neurology.
Graveside Services: 11:00 a.m., Monday, November 9, 2015
Hobart Rose Cemetery, Hobart, OK, under the direction of Ray & Martha's Funeral Home, Hobart.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Cecil Baker, please visit our flower store.
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