Dedicated to helping others

For Baker, being there for others is a driving force

Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by DARWIN WEIGEL Calvert Hospice volunteer Ed Baker of Chesapeake Beach watches a message balloon rise in July with Camp Phoenix camper Laura Salvatore, 13, of Lusby. Baker was her buddy during the camp. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

One person who has an open heart for many is Ed Baker of Chesapeake Beach, a Calvert Hospice volunteer who is also studying to become a deacon for the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.

Baker grew up the middle child in Brooklyn, Md., south of Baltimore. Baker said he and his sisters grew up with great parents who have since died.

‘‘They got us going in the right direction,” Baker said.

He attended parochial school and then attended the Baltimore PolyTech Institute. At the institute, he became interested in what he called ‘‘technical kinds of things.”

Baker and his wife Nora met at age 13 at a Catholic Youth Organization that held dancing events at the school every week. They were together all through high school and were married when they were 20 years old. They have been married 42 years.

‘‘She went off to Towson [University] and I went to Virginia Tech. When I was a senior, she dropped out, we got married and had three children,” Baker said.

Baker graduated with a Ph.D in engineering from Virginia Tech and went on to become a research scientist for the Navy for 34 years.

After he retired in 2001, Baker went to work for Johns Hopkins in the applied physics lab in Laurel until 2006. He then decided to go into the deacon program for the Archdiocese.

It was during the deacon program that Baker became involved with Calvert Hospice.

Baker’s leap from the military to a man of the cloth comes from his strong religious background. His parents were very strong in their Catholic faith.

‘‘One day I was in church at Jesus the Good Shepherd and the spirit moved me and said ‘This is what you need to do,’ ” Baker said. ‘‘It was that simple.”

Baker was 61 when the entered the Diaconate program, a year younger than the required age limit of 62.

‘‘I filled out the application, went through the interview processes and got accepted,” Baker said. ‘‘Nora attended the classes with me. They encourage the spouse to participate.”

According to Baker, this is an intense program that requires serious commitment.

‘‘When you become ordained to be a deacon, you make a vow of obedience to the Bishop. You have to do whatever the Bishop wants you to.”

Part of the program is to volunteer in the community.

‘‘Besides helping out in your parish, you have to do a ministry for a charity,” Baker said. ‘‘My life has been one of being able to volunteer and help people.”

Baker said he saw how hospice cared for his parents and was inspired to do the same for others. Before he joined the Diaconate program, he wanted to volunteer at hospice.

In 2002, Baker took hospice and medical training. He also took 33 hours of training over several weeks in several different subjects, everything from anger management to how to change a bed sheet. He also went to a funeral home to learn its procedures.

‘‘I like working with hospice,” Baker said. ‘‘It’s very rewarding to help people, especially people who you know are terminal and this may be the only thing they have done.”

As a hospice volunteer, Baker has seen clients by themselves and others who have had family around them. To help out, he also links his patients to local churches to get them the spiritual help they need.

‘‘EdÊis the epitome of a hospice volunteer: caring, generous, compassionate and kind, always a great listener,” said Ann Lavezzo, the volunteer coordinator for Calvert Hospice. ‘‘His greatest gift to his patients and bereavement clients is his presence.”

‘‘You can become very close to these people in a short amount of time,” Baker said. ‘‘Mostly it’s listening, holding their hands and praying with them. You have to respect them for the religion they are.”

Baker is part of a team at hospice that includes a chaplain, a nurse, the volunteer coordinator, an aid and a social worker to take care of the patient and make sure someone is available for them.

Baker said he is affected by each and every patient of hospice that he meets.

‘‘It’s harder with some than with others,” Baker said. ‘‘Some of them you see for a long time and you develop relationships with them.”

Baker lets his patients know that they can call him any time of the night or day. Most of them do call him, and Baker said that he has received phone calls as early at 3 a.m.

He has also gone on McDonald’s runs for his clients, listened to them play their music and even took one for a drive around the county. He keeps in contact with some of the families that he has served.

‘‘I would like to help as many people as I can because I believe that’s why I’m here,” Baker said. ‘‘That dovetails into the deacon ministry.”

In 2007, Baker worked with hospice under an internship for the Diaconate program, which was different from his volunteer work. He went to Calvert Memorial Hospital and Calvert nursing homes with the hospice chaplin to pray for people.

‘‘You might get a phone call asking for help with a mailing or asking for help to paint a new door,” Baker said.

‘‘He is always willing to do anything he can to help, from picking up signs, painting in the office, stuffing envelopes, serving on the volunteer panel to answer new volunteer’s questions or visiting patients,” Lavezzo said.

This year, Baker was involved with Camp Phoenix, a three-day camp that helps children who are grieving the loss of a loved one. His buddy was Laura Salvatore, 13, of Lusby, who lost two members of her family within the space of a year. Baker said that the majority of his time was spent listening, doing group discussions,working on coping skills and activities.

‘‘He did a wonderful job as a Camp Phoenix Buddy and I look forward to seeing what else Ed Baker has up his sleeve to impress me with,” Lavezzo said.

Baker is also involved with Birthright of Prince Frederick as part of his internship for the Diaconate program. When Baker is done with his Diaconate program, he hopes to be assigned to work in of Calvert County.

‘‘My first choice to do work for the Bishop would be the area of hospice and bereavement in Calvert County, assuming that was what the Bishop wants,” Baker said. ‘‘My desire would be for hospice.”