William Charles Baker

William Charles

Baker passed away on

Monday, May 17, 2010.

Born in Port Arthur,

Texas on May 14, 1933,

he was the only son of

the late Martha and

Harry Baker.

As a young child,

Bill was a voracious

learner and excelled

academically. Bill began

forging his future career path at an early age. He spent

much time with his father, a marine agent, and developed

a strong interest in all areas of admiralty. Another of his

favorite past-times was skipping school to watch a relative

in court! These two things eventually led him to become

a maritime lawyer.

Bill left Port Arthur during high school to attend

Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana. Upon

graduating from Culver in 1951, he attended the University

of Texas at Austin, where he majored in accounting. Bill

went on to graduate from the University of Texas Law

School with honors in 1957. While at the University, he

was an active member of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity and

the Army ROTC.

Following graduation, Bill pursued his childhood

passion and traveled to Washington D.C. to become a trial

attorney in the Admiralty and Shipping Section of the

United States Department of Justice. In 1959, he entered

private practice, which took him to New York and then

Dallas. His work with Wynne, Jaffe & Tinsley in Dallas,

led him to become General Manager of the Texas Pavilion

at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. He then became

General Counsel and later President of Great Southwest

Corporation, which developed projects including Six Flags

of Texas, Georgia, and Mid-America. This began his long

and successful business career.

In 1967, Bill relocated to California as President of

Macco Corporation, where he developed such projects as

Coto de Caza, Rancho California, and Scripps Miramar

Ranch. Since then, his accomplished business career

has included serving as President and/or Chief Executive

Officer of Del Taco Corporation, Red Robin International

Santa Anita Companies and Callaway Golf. He was also

Chairman of the Board and a founding shareholder of

Coast Newport Properties, which sold to Coldwell Banker

in 1999. Bill has also served on the Board of Directors of

Public Storage, California Pizza Kitchen, Javo Beverage

Company, and Pepperdine University among others.

He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Janice H. Baker

of Newport Beach, California; his son William C. Baker, Jr.,

of Powder Springs, Georgia; his daughters Cynthia Good of

Menlo Park, California, Amanda Clarke of San Francisco,

California, Stacy Kofoed of Newport Beach, California,

and Suzanne Freyer of Pacific Palisades, California;

grandchildren Erin Wright, David Wright, Mark Baker,

Emily Wright, Michael Baker, Caitlin Kofoed, Cassidy

Kofoed, Kyle Kofoed, Chloe Kofoed, Brooke Freyer, and

Nolan Freyer; and great-grandchild Jackson Wright.

The Memorial Service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on

Monday, May 24, 2010 at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church

in Newport Beach, California.