George F. Baker Jr
 George F. Baker Jr  (banker) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Died | December 11, 1977 |
Cause of death | gunshot |
| Alma mater | Harvard |
| Parents | George Fisher Baker |
| Children | George Baker III |
| Member of | The 1001 Club |
| Victim of | murder |
A "prominent socialite" shot dead in 1977. 1001 Club. His son was presumed dead after flying a small plane. | |
George F. Baker Jr was a New York banker and socialite who was found shot to death in the morning of December 11, 1977 on his 13,000-acre plantation in Florida.
Family
George F. Baker Jr was named for his father and grandfather, both of whom served as chairman of the First National Bank. His grandfather George F. Baker (1840-1931) was the "Dean of American Banking" and the country's third richest man.
His brother, Grenville, died in 1949 (see below)
His son, George Baker III was presumed dead in 2005 after his small plan disappeared of Nantucket, Massachusets.[1]
Life
George F. Baker Jr was attached to the US army special services in France during WW2.[2]
George F. Baker Jr. served as chairman of the First National Bank. Mr. Baker joined the bank in 1939, a few months after his graduation from Harvard in 1938. He was made a director in 1949, and continued in that capacity for some time after the merger that established the First National City Bank, now Citibank.[2]
Death
A prominent socialite in New York City society, George F. Baker Jr. was found shot to death in the morning of December 11, 1977 on his 13,000-acre Horsehoe Plantation in Florida. No note was found and there was no immediate explanation for the apparent suicide.[3]
Brother's death in 1949
Baker's younger brother, Grenville, was died of a gunshot in 1949, in the same family plantation where George died. The incident was ruled accidental,[2] where the police said it "doesn't look like murder." Baker was found dying of a pistol bullet wound through the head early yesterday shortly after his jeep wrecked.[4][3]
He had been riding in the moonlight along a lonely dirt road, with pretty Thelma Griffin, a young divorced tavern car hop who had met him only a few hours before at a night club. The state attorney said "it is very possible" that the discharge of the pistol was accidental. He emphasized, however, that a suicide theory has not been discarded.
References
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/07/nyregion/george-baker-iii-66-financier-and-pilot-is-presumed-dead.html
- ↑ a b c https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/12/archives/george-f-baker-jr-new-york-socialite-found-fatally-shot.html
- ↑ a b The New York Daily News December 12, 1977
- ↑ https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1949/1/19/police-suspect-accident-in-florida-death/
