Obituary
John Balfour Baer, 96, of Pittsboro, NC, died of natural causes on December 6, 2024.
Born in Evanston, Illinois in 1928 to William Whittaker and Helen Millerd Baer, John lived in Wilmette and Winnetka, graduating from New Trier High School. At age 10 he was invited to go fishing with his best friend, at their family’s cottage in Three Lakes, Wisconsin, and thus began an 85 year romance with the Wisconsin Northwoods. John attended Hobart College in his mother’s hometown of Geneva, NY graduating with his BA in 1950. While at Hobart he joined Theta Delta Chi fraternity and played varsity basketball and lacrosse for the Statesmen. John enlisted in the Air Force shortly after graduation. He was stationed in Newfoundland and Thule, Greenland, as part of the Air Weather Service, collecting meteorological data to support US military activities vs. North Korea. He was married to his college sweetheart, Phyllis Helen Kalmbach in Grand Rapids, MI in 1953. They honeymooned in Mexico and were then stationed in Long Beach, California until he was Honorably Discharged as a Staff Sergeant in 1954. After leaving the military John took a job selling industrial chemicals for the American Cyanamid Company initially working from the Chicago suburb of Park Forest, Illinois. John retired from a spinoff of Cyanamid, CYTEC Industries, after a successful 40 year career. John and Phyllis relocated several times as John climbed the corporate ladder, living in Lyndhurst, OH, Sandy Springs, Georgia and Mountain Lakes, NJ after Park Forest. They lived in Mountain Lakes for more than 30 years before finally retiring to Galloway Ridge at Fearrington in Pittsboro, NC in 2005. The Baers were members of the St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church while in North Carolina. Every summer, from every location, they returned to their beloved Three Lakes Rod & Gun Club to be joined by family and friends for picnics, tennis, swimming, fishing, waterskiing, and sailing. John was a loving, dedicated son, brother, uncle, cousin, husband, and father, who enjoyed gardening, genealogy, singing (in the shower, in men’s chorus, in church choir or pew – anywhere really), and monitoring the weather. He also loved organizing road trips, especially those headed Up North or towards his children’s homes with stops to read historical markers. His sense of humor, laugh and smile will be missed by all who knew him.
John is predeceased by his wife of 57 years, Phyllis; older brother William “Bugs”; both his parents; and special companion, Mrs. Woodard Heath. He is survived by his children, Alison B. Arter of Chapel Hill, NC; John Millerd Baer (Kimbra) of Yorkville, IL; and William Balfour Baer (Gail) of Salmon, ID; 3 grandchildren; 2 great grandchildren; and niece Linda A. Baer (Dave Kjelstrom) of Punta Gorda, FL.
A memorial service will be held at a later date in Three Lakes Wisconsin. Memorials may be made in his name to: Helen Millerd Baer ’18 Scholarship Fund, Hobart and William Smith, Office of Advancement, 300 Pulteney St., Geneva NY 14456; Galloway Ridge Resident Reserve Fund, 3000 Galloway Ridge, Pittsboro, NC 27312; or St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, 204 W. Salisbury Street, Pittsboro, NC 27312.
