WELL-KNOWN KENTVILLE RESIDENT PASSES AWAY

George Chisholm Baker, CM, MBE, D. Eng, DCL, P. Eng., passed away on November 10, 2013 in Kentville, Nova Scotia. Born in Dartmouth on October 29, 1918, he was the only child of Clifford and Edith (Chisholm) Baker. At the age of seven, the family moved to Kentville which he called home for the rest of his life. In 1936 George entered the Royal Military College of Canada from which he received an early graduation in 1939 to go to war. George was commissioned a Lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals and arrived in England in 1940. He rose quickly through the ranks, was promoted to Major and became General Staff Officer Wireless for the lst Canadian Army in 1943. His work in planning and implementing the signals portion of the D-Day deception plan and subsequent communications for the Canadian Army's advance through Europe earned him an appointment as a Member of the Order of the British Empire. It was in England that George met Ethel Marie Humbert, whom he married in 1942 and loved until her death in 1997. On his return to civilian life in 1945, George studied electrical engineering at the University of Toronto, from which he received his degree in 1946. After a brief employment with Canadian General Electric Company, he returned to Kentville to take over the family business, the Kentville Publishing Company. During the thirty-three years he owned the company he continued his interest in engineering as manager of the Kentville Electric Commission from 1960 to 1981. In 1968, his expertise in the detailed analysis of complex data brought him as a member and later vice-chairman of the fledgling Nova Scotia Medical Care Insurance Commission that established the provincial Medical Services Insurance program. In 1971, George realized a life¬long dream to harness the tidal power of the Bay of Fundy by becoming a director and later vice-president of the Nova Scotia Tidal Power Corporation, a position he held until 1989. After leaving the corporation, he remained active in the field and developed an international reputation in tidal power and alternative energy sources. For his efforts in the worlds of business and engineering he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada and was awarded honourary doctorates by the Royal Military College of Canada, the Technical University of Nova Scotia, and Acadia University. Within the profession, he was an honourary life member of the Association of Professional Engineers of Nova Scotia, a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada, and a recipient of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers' Centennial Gold Medal. He continued his consulting engineering activities throughout his life. Although at the age of 92 he finally closed his practice, he continued to advise engineering colleagues and old clients up to the time of his death. Always active in the community, George was a chairman of the Kentville School Board, president of the Rotary Club, and president of the Kentville Baseball Association. George was a keen outdoorsman all his life, beginning in his youth as a King's Scout. He was an avid hunter, fisherman and sailor. A championship marksman, he was a member of the 1949 Canadian Bisley team and later competed in Olympic trials for dinghy racing. George is survived by his daughters, Alison (Robert) Reynolds and Catherine (Bryan) Drummond, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Funeral services, followed by a reception, will be held at 11:00 a.m. Monday, November 18, 2013 at St. James Anglican Church, Kentville, Reverend Cathy Pharo officiating. A private burial will follow. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of George may be made to a charity of choice. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the White Family Funeral Home
and Cremation Services, Kentville. Online inquiries or condolences may be directed to www.whitefamilyfuneralhome.com.
Truth, Duty, Valour