Karl Otto Baer passed away peacefully at the Hospice Home on October 24, three days before his 83rd birthday. Karl was born October 27, 1941 in Springfield, Ohio where his parents had settled after relocating from Germany as young adults. His parents were Karl Emil Baer and Rosa Louisa (Backhoff) Baer. Karl had an older brother, Gustave Karl (Jane) Baer.
Karl was four years old when his family moved to the farm in the Irish Hills. He graduated from Brooklyn Schools in 1960 and attended college at Eastern Michigan University. Karl worked in the Detroit area as a respiratory therapist and then returned to the Irish Hills to help organize the respiratory department at Bixby Hospital. When he left Bixby Hospital, he became a real estate Broker and had an office in the Irish Hills for a number of years. When Karl’s health did not allow real estate any longer he semi-retired and returned to farming and raised poultry. He went to markets in Ann Arbor and Northwest Detroit making many friends with his customers.
While working at Bixby Hospital, Karl met Carolyn (Greenwald) Emery and they were married on December 30, 1988 having over 45 loving years together.
Karl has two daughters, Deborah Kay (Richard) Davis and Rosemarie Louise Baer. Carolyn has a son, Craig Steven (Amy Baker) Emery and a daughter Cathleen Anne (Jason Hunt) Emery.
Karl’s additional family include his grandchildren Shana (Ryan) Love, Brittany (Stratos Postrikos) Taylor, Ariel (Andrew) Lake-Emery, Alexandria (Aliy Williams) Emery, Craig Steven (Cana GLP) Emery II, and Catelyn (Nate Darm) Hall, five great grandchildren, and a niece Mary Beth (Thomas) Bair and nephew Edward (Carrie) Baer.
The family wants to thank Dr. Mowat, Dr. Jin, Dr. A and Dr. Voorhees for their excellent care. We would also like to thank the nurses at Hickman Hospital and especially the Hospice Home who cared for him in his last few days.
There will be a Celebration of Life on November 16th at the West Adrian Community Church located at 4545 Wolf Creek Highway from 1pm to 4pm.
Donations can be made to the Seeing Eye Program through the Breakfast Lions Club or the Hospice Of Lenawee Home.