William Douglas Baker

With fond memories, and sad hearts, on Wednesday, February 17, 2021 William "Will" Douglas Baker of Cold Lake, Alberta passed away peacefully with his loving family by his side after a courageous battle with cancer at the age of 62 years. Will started his teaching career in Australia. He came to Canada on a teacher exchange program in 1991, where he met his wife, Louise. He became the principal of Elizabeth Elementary School in 1996, and then of the former K-6 Mackenzie River School in 2002. He then transitioned to the principal of Holy Cross when it opened in December 2007. William truly made Holy Cross Elementary the best school possible. He always had an open door for every teacher, parent and student. He remembered every student by their name, and he took pride in that, and it made every student feel important. William Baker was awarded Canada's Outstanding Principal Award in January 2011. William was incredibly humble even with this accomplishment, always accrediting his staff for this recognition. William was the principal who helped the teacher become so much better, he worked to empower every teacher. William still had one great joy that he brought with him from Australia, the Australian Football league. He loved explaining the game to all of his Canadian friends who knew nothing about it. He watched as many games as he could with the time difference, but one game he always watched was the AFL Grand Final, even if that meant watching until the wee hours in the morning. William was always actively involved in his son's sports, by coaching in both the hockey and soccer leagues, he made sure to never miss one of his boy's games. Another love that William and his boys shared was a love for basketball, always giving his sons tips and tricks on how to improve, travelling to games in the United States to watch together, and again, never missing the chance to watch one of their games. Will's love for travel was shared with his family through many spur of the moment trips. William will be deeply missed and fondly remembered by his three sons: Jared Baker, Kieran Baker, Brendan Baker; his mother: Mavis Baker; as well as by his loved one: Denise Reid; Denise's children: Sydney (Andrei), Tanner (Sienna); brother: Colin (Maria) Baker; niece: Naomi; two nephews: Daniel, Joel; sister: Beverly (Steve) De-Strang. William was predeceased by his wife: Louise Baker (2014); father: James Baker (2019); sister: Marilyn (2011). A Celebration of William's life will take place in March, 2021 at St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church, Cold Lake, Alberta with Father Limneo Zamora officiating. Memorial tributes in memory of William may be sent to Lymphoma Society of Canada, 1212-31 Avenue NE #590, Calgary, Alberta T2E 7S8. ~ Respectfully the Baker family. A Facebook live stream of Will's service will be on Memento Funeral Chapel's Facebook Page *date & time to be announced* If you don’t already follow our Facebook page, please like/join our page prior to the live stream service to be able to watch. If you do not have Facebook, please copy and paste this link into your browser: https://www.facebook.com/MementoFuneralChapel