Tyrone W. “Terry” Baker of Dallas, Texas was born July 25, 1938, in Underwood, North Dakota. He was one of eight children born to Henry George “Hank” Baker and Alice Lorna (Tower) Baker. He passed away May 26, 2024 in Dallas, Texas at the age of 85. He was preceded in death by his parents, Henry and Alice Baker, sisters Sylvia Simonson and Doris Krebsbach, and brother Darrow Baker. He is survived by his wife Joyce Baker of Dallas, Texas; son Barry Baker (Marinel) of Central Point, Oregon; daughter Cheryl Gorena (Denny) of Carrollton, Texas; grandson Everett Baker (Alissa) of Beaverton, Oregon; grandson Ethan Baker (Mariana) of Richland, Washington; grandsons Elijah and Giovanni Gorena of Carrollton, Texas; great-grandson Wayde Baker of Richland, Washington; brother Robert Baker of Midland, Michigan; sister Faye Stein of Garrison, North Dakota; sister Betty Dunagan (Bill) of Avondale, Arizona; and brother Roger Baker (Bettelu) of Rochester, Minnesota and Mesa, Arizona; and by numerous friends, nieces and nephews.
Terry grew up in Garrison, North Dakota where he attended Garrison schools for eleven years. In 1955, the Baker family moved to their ranch in the Prophet Mountains in northwest Sheridan County, North Dakota. He graduated from McClusky High School in 1956.
His first job was at ages 12 and 13 working at the Garrison Creamery. At ages 14, 15, and 16 he worked at the Red Owl Grocery Store in Garrison, North Dakota. He saved his money and bought his horse, Paint, which he enjoyed riding throughout his teenage years. In the summer of 1955, at the age of 17, Terry worked on a concrete crew building the power house for the newly constructed Garrison Dam built across the Missouri River.
He served in the United States Army from 1957-1960. He completed basic training at Fort Carson, Colorado, and Military Police School at Fort Gordon, Georgia. He was stationed with the U.S. Army Military Police at Killeen Base, Texas from December 17, 1957 to July 22, 1960. He attained the rank of Corporal at Killeen Base, and then was promoted to Sergeant in 1961 while serving in the U.S. Army Reserves. He received the Good Conduct Medal, the Cold War Recognition Certificate, several shooting awards, and an Honorable Discharge.
Terry married the former Joyce Ann Greear in Lampasas, Texas on November 11, 1961. After they married, they moved to Dallas where he was employed by the Gulf Oil Corporation and Foster Tire and Supply Company from 1961-1968. They had two children, Barry, born May 5. 1963 and Cheryl, born April 1, 1966.
In 1965, Terry joined the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department as a reserve deputy sheriff. In 1968, he went to work full-time for the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department. He worked for 5 different Dallas County sheriffs during his law enforcement career, including: Bill Decker, Clarence Jones, Carl Thomas, Don Byrd and Jim Bowles. He rose through the ranks to the position of Assistant Chief Deputy. In 1987-1988 he was president of the Law Enforcement Officers Association of Texas. Before he retired, he was chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee that planned for security at the 1994 World Cup Soccer Games that were held in Dallas, Texas.
After 3 years in the reserves and 26 years of full-time service with the department, Terry retired with the rank of Assistant Chief Deputy, on December 31, 1994 at the age of 56. Following his retirement, and for another 10 years, he remained with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department as a mounted reserve deputy in the Dallas County Sheriff’s Posse. He owned a register quarter horse by the name of Doc Baldy Bingo, which he rode during his years with the Sheriff’s Posse. He and Doc participated in many events and parades together. During his career, Terry spent a total of 42 years in law enforcement, including the 3 years he served in the military police. Terry earned many awards during his career in law enforcement, including the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department “Deputy of the Year” in 2000. He was also awarded the Master Peace Officer’s Certificate based on education and years of experience.
During the 1970s, Terry was an active leader in Boy Scout Troop 744. The troop was sponsored by Charles A. Gill Elementary School in Dallas, Texas. During this time, he and 2 other scout leaders took a group of 16 boy scouts on a High Adventure trip to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico for a 12-day hike through the Rocky Mountains area of the ranch.
While still with the Sheriff’s Department, Terry also worked many part-time security jobs. For ten years, from 1978-1987, he worked security at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas where the Dallas Cowboys played. He also started a belt buckle business and designed western-style belt buckles for law enforcement departments and special events. He designed two buckles for the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department and one for the Dallas County Sheriff’s Posse. He worked with a foundry and their artist in Denison, Texas to produce the buckles for him. He also designed a buckle for the Texas Sesquicentennial in 1986. These buckles were sold in Sam’s Club Stores across Texas. He also designed special buckles for other law enforcement departments and organizations.
In 1978, he graduated Cum Laude with an Associate of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice from Abilene Christian University. IN 1984, he graduated from the F.B.I. National Academy, a program for law enforcement officers from all the world, at Quantico, Virginia. Through this program, he earned 16 credit hours from the University of Virginia.
After Terry retired, he continued to use his law enforcement training by being part of the volunteer security team for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. He was a security supervisor at Fulton Stadium where the Olympic baseball games were played.
Also after his retirement from the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, Terry became involved in research to gather information about Texas peace officers who had been killed in the line of duty, but had been forgotten to history. He and his wife Joyce, traveled all over the state of Texas to document the required information to get 246 officers’ names on the memorial walls in Austin, Texas and Washington, D.C. He received awards from various law enforcement agencies for his untiring works to honor slain officers.
On March 10, 2010 he was one of the recipients of the 2009 F.B.I. Director’s Community Leadership Awards from F.B.I. Director Robert S. Mueller III, in a ceremony in Washington, D.C. The award was presented to individuals who had done outstanding volunteer work regarding law enforcement. Terry received the award for the work he did to get officers’ names on the memorial walls.
Terry was a published author. His article, “Finding the Forgotten, Texas Peace Officers Killed in the Line of Duty” was published in 2002 in the magazine, F.B.I. National Academy Associates. He also authored the historical book, “Hangings and Lynchings in Dallas County, Texas, 1853-1920”, which was published in 2016.
Terry was a member of the Dallas County Sheriff Bill Decker Deputy Association, the F.B.I. National Academy Associates, the Sheriff’s Association of Texas and the Retired Dallas County Employees’ Association. In the 1980s, he was a member of the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department Rodeo Team, which participated in police rodeos across the state of Texas.
Terry previously had been a long-time member of Lochwood Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. At the time of his death, he was a member of Calvary Hill Baptist Church in Mesquite, Texas. After joining Calvary Hill in September of 2005, he became active in helping to support mission work for the children in Mexico.
Burial will be held at the historic Smith Cemetery, on the Moten Ranch, west of Oakalla, Texas off Highway FM 963 in Burnet County on Monday, June 3, 2024 at 1 pm.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Calvary Hill Baptist Church Missions Fund.
