Monday July 2, 2001
Uncle bockey: God Lived In His Heart
When Jack Eldon Baker was diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome, his mother asked the doctor if her infant son would ever be able to go to school. “He said, ‘You’ll be lucky to have him for two or three years,’” Lucille Baker remembers, “’but he will never, ever live past seven.’”
That conversation took place in 1939. Sunday, Jack Eldon—known as “Uncle Bockey” to his many friends and relatives in his hometown of Gilbert and across northern Arkansas—died at age 61. And, by the way, he did go to school. In fact, his life demonstrates very well at least two important lessons.
The first lesson involves the power of a family’s love. Despite recommendations from specialists that he should be permanently institutionalized, Lucille and her husband Noel were determined to make Jack Eldon’s life as normal as possible. They sent him to school in Gilbert and then St. Joe until he was in the sixth grade.
“When the Children’s Colony started in Conway, Jack Eldon was the third student they accepted,” Lucille says. “We told them to keep him as long as they thought they could do him some good, then we wanted him to come back home.”
In Conway, Jack Eldon learned a lot. Although he couldn’t be taught to read or write, he learned to sign his name and he picked up other life skills. But it was also a lonely time for him.
“He told me, ‘Momma, when I had to cry, I went out behind the building and cried,’” Lucille shakes her head and remembers.
After he had progressed as much as he could at the Children’s Colony, Jack Eldon returned to Gilbert. He helped his mother in the family’s general store and took care of some sheep and chickens that his parents bought for him. He also played with his two older brothers, Noel, Jr. and Bill.
“From the time he was in his teens until he was in his 30’s, he loved to go swimming in the Buffalo River and the cold creeks in the area,” recalls Dr. Bill Baker, who started retirement after over 27 years as president of North Arkansas College in Harrison on the day his younger brother passed away. “He loved the cold water. When no one else could stand it, he was right in the middle of it.”
Jack Eldon went to the Gilbert Christian Church every Sunday. He and his best friend, Forest King, sat on the front pew. “He was never treated any different,” says his cousin Ronnie Ramsey. “He never knew he was any different,” his sister-in-law Bonnie Baker says.
Jack Eldon loved church. He liked to dress up, and couldn’t wait for Sunday. “He lived for Sunday,” says his cousin Jeannie Moore.
As the years went by, it became a tradition at what he called “God’s Church” for Jack Eldon to say the closing prayer in his special language so many grew to understand. Earlier in the morning, when the Sunday school teacher would ask if there were any comments at the end of class, Jack Eldon’s hand would always shoot up. “God lives in your heart,” he would say.
Gilbert was the perfect place for Jack Eldon to spend his life. “The town nurtured him,” his cousin Marcie Magness says. “He loved Gilbert.”
He also loved westerns (“shoot ‘em ups”) on television, Elvis, and Braves baseball. He was a fan dating back to when the team played in Milwaukee, and he attended at least one Braves home series in Atlanta with family members every year for more than 20 years. Once, he even got to shake hands with his hero, Hank Aaron.
Jack Eldon also loved walking around town, riding in the front seat of the car (especially on back roads), eating out, and performing. There’s a connection between Elvis and performing.
“For years and years,” remembers his niece Julia Baker Howry with a smile, “Uncle Bockey would go back in his bedroom every day, turn the stereo up loud, and dance to an Elvis album. I think he had all of Elvis’ albums. He made sure that he positioned himself right in front of the dresser mirror, so he could check his moves.”
Last year for his 60th birthday, Jack Eldon’s family presented him with an Elvis costume. Uncle Bockey would always charge guests to attend his birthday party. “He was the only person I know who made you pay and bring a present,” Bill laughs, “and he knew the difference between ‘Little Boys’ (one dollar bills) and ‘Big Boys’ (larger denominations).” At that party, Jack Eldon wore his Elvis costume and performed all of the King’s greatest hits.
So, the first lesson of Jack Eldon’s life involves the unconditional love he received from his family, and how it enabled him to lead a good life. “The worst fear for any young couple would have to be having a Down’s Syndrome baby,” Bill says. “But mom and dad were determined to make him as happy as possible.”
Noel, Sr. suffered a fatal heart attack in 1982. Noel, Jr. passed away two years ago. At age 89, Lucille has persevered through several operations and various health problems, determined to be there for Jack Eldon's entire life.
The second lesson of Jack Eldon’s story involves the power of his love for others, and what he taught his family and friends. “Everyone that knew him, loved him,” says his cousin Amie Moore.
“What he taught all of us,” reveals Danny Roth, who is married to Jack Eldon’s cousin Tammie, “was how to treat and act around special people.”
From the time he left the Children’s Colony and his teachers kept corresponding with him, Jack Eldon was never shy about meeting people.
“One year we were in Atlanta for a Braves game,” Bill recalls, “and we were in the lobby of a big hotel. I noticed three businessmen talking on the other side of the lobby. I walked over to the front desk to check us in, and J.E. was right in the middle of their conversation by the time I turned around.”
Jack Eldon, who called Gilbert “E.Y.” for reasons that no one knows, would walk up and say, “Hi, I’m Jack from E.Y., Arkansas” in words that no stranger could possibly understand. But he didn’t think he was different, and he didn’t expect anyone else to, either.
His daily routine in Gilbert rarely varied. “He would always get up before me,” Lucille says, “and I usually found him painting a picture.” Jack Eldon used magic markers to paint. He accumulated hundreds of markers over the years because he wouldn’t use one after its point started to wear.
After breakfast, Jack Eldon would walk to the store to visit with the owner, Ben Fruehauf (or “Big Boy,” as Uncle Bockey called him), and on to the Gilbert post office to drop off Big Boy’s mail and pick up his own. He always walked down the middle of the street.
If someone came his way in a car, he simply directed it around him, according to his Aunt Kattie Moore. “Someone told me the other day that they drove up behind him and he just stuck his hand behind his back and pointed for them to go around,” she recalls with a grin. “He didn’t even turn and look at them.”
Most of all, Jack Eldon loved his family. When his nephew Billy Baker was ready to go to college, the first tuition payment came from money Uncle Bockey had saved from raising calves. “He always said he was going to do it,” Billy remembers. “When he gave me the money, we both had tears in our eyes.”
As Billy’s dad Bill Baker likes to say, “ We have a big family, and the whole family revolved around Jack Eldon.” In many ways, the same was true of Gilbert. He was welcome in almost any home in the small community, including for lunch or dinner.
“He loved to play Santa Claus at Christmas,” remembers Tammie Roth. “He had a Santa suit and played Santa for PEO in Harrison, for Gilbert Christmas celebrations, and at our family Christmas.”
Jack Eldon prayed for at least an hour every night. “He had a direct line to God, I think,” Kattie Moore says and smiles. “He didn’t want anyone else to pray at Sunday dinner.”
Danny Roth and Ronnie Ramsey agree: “He was the center of the family, and he was all about love.” As devoted as Lucille Baker was to her son for over six decades, he was just as faithful to her.
“He never harmed or said a cross word to anyone,” says Jack Eldon’s mother, “and I never had to say a second word to him.”
Before Uncle Bockey would start his morning walk every day, he would write his mom a note, in writing only she could hope to read, letting her know where he was going and when he would be back. “It was always the same note, and he signed it ‘Jack,’” says Bill.
Walking was always one of Jack Eldon’s favorite things. When he came to Harrison to visit Danny and Tammie Roth and their boys, he would walk around their neighborhood. He always found his way back home, with one exception.
One evening Jack Eldon was out walking in Harrison and someone phoned the police, concerned about his safety. A patrol car picked him up and eventually he was returned to the Roth home.
“When he came inside,” Danny recalls with a laugh, “he said, ‘I just want to say one thing: Can’t a boy not walk?’”
Yesterday at God’s Church in Gilbert, Jeannie Moore was ready when the teacher asked if anyone had a comment at the end of Sunday school.
She said, “God lives in your heart.”
Jack Eldon Baker
September 8, 1939 - July 1, 2001
Gifts in memory of “Uncle Bockey” may be made to the Gilbert Christian Church, Gilbert, AR 72636 or to the Jack Eldon Baker Scholarship Fund, North Arkansas College Foundation, 1515 Pioneer Drive, Harrison, AR 72601.