James "Jd" Baker

James “JD” Baker, age 64, of White Sulphur Springs, Montana passed away peacefully on May 24, 2023, with his most beloved Laurie Johnson and his best friend Kogi, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, by his side at Peace Hospice in Great Falls, Montana.
JD was born on March 24, 1959, to Curtis Dale and Yutaka Baker in Buffalo, Wyoming where the views of the Big Horn Mountains embraced his soul from day one. As the youngest son of a soldier, James lived wherever the Army beckoned his father. Every few years the family relocated, from California to Virginia with a few stops in between and finally to Fort Campbell, Kentucky where James was fortunate to complete grades 7 – 12. He graduated from Fort Campbell High School in 1977. At Fort Campbell he forged lifelong friendships with other Army brats. After high school, however, he knew he had to head west toward the Rocky Mountains because as a Wyoming native, it was his calling.
No one would question the fact that James was a free spirit. He fancied being outdoors and chose jobs where his office was in the open air. He loved to fish and spent time with his best bud Dale tossing lures in the Smith River chasing trout. He worked for a long time as a geophysical surveyor or “doodlebugger” searching for underground gas and oil pockets in remote locations like North Dakota, west Texas, Kansas, the swamps of Louisiana, Colorado, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Montana, and Utah. They used explosives or generated ground vibrations with “Thumper” trucks to record the subsurface conditions. It is still hard to fathom that someone paid JD to blow stuff up. Of all his adventures, his most favorite was working on helicopter crews using portable seismic equipment and dynamite, of course. He said flying up the mountain side with former Vietnam War helicopter pilots was a harrowing, wild ride that everyone should try at least once in their lifetime. He loved living on the edge.
James will be greatly missed by his brother Ken (Perri); his beloved, Laurie Johnson; his nephew, Justin (Melissa); great-niece, Ava; great-nephew, Rocket; his favorite niece, Ashley (Todd) Thomas; his best friend, Kogi; and a barnfull of friends and distant relatives from across the country.
Material things did not matter much to JD. He strived for simplicity in life and was able to find it in Montana. But why Montana? Chris LeDoux, former world champion bronc rider and country music singer from Kaycee, Wyoming probably described it best, “…if they ever saw a sunrise on a mountain morning; Watched those cotton candy clouds roll by; They'd know why I live beneath these Western Skies.”
We’ll miss JD’s grin and cutting sense of humor. To fill that void, there will be a celebration of JD’s life in White Sulphur Springs, Montana. Details will be forthcoming.