The Sebring McKinley High School Alumni Association recently announced that a 2023 senior scholarship will be given in honor of Mesa resident William H. Baker, a 1954 graduate of the school in Ohio.

He and his wife of 64 years, Marilyn, have four children and three grandchildren.

“Bill has lived in Mesa since 1973 but has never forgotten his Sebring roots and his alma mater,” JoAnn Jones, SHS alumni president, said in a release. “We are grateful to this alumnus for his steadfast support of our scholarship program. Naming one of our 2023 senior scholarships for
Bill allows us to honor one of our own,” she said.

Bill Baker was born in Sebring in his family’s house on East Indiana Avenue. At 16 he worked at Queens China until graduation from Sebring McKinley High School.

The family moved to Elyria and in 1959 he joined the U.S. Army. Honorably discharged in 1961, he enrolled in the newly chartered Lorain Community College and majored in data processing, a forerunner of computer technology.

Graduating in the college’s inaugural class, his career path led to State Farm Insurance, where he was a computer operator for 12 years and a computer technician for eight years.

An avid bowler in his free time, Bill Baker became highly skilled in the sport, competing in tournament play on a national level, the release states.

Another favorite pastime was overseas travel.

“Some of Marilyn’s and my favorite places to visit were Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, and Australia,” Bill Baker said in the release.

In his accomplished life, he proudly cites family as his top priority.

The Sebring McKinley High School Alumni Association considers itself part of Bill Baker’s extended family and will be pleased to acknowledge him at the school’s annual class awards ceremony this spring, the release states.