March 28, 2024

Administrators remember Baker for positive attitude

Image 1 of 2

Wednesday wasn’t easy for Creston Community School District Superintendent Steve McDermott and Creston High School Principal Bill Messerole.

They, along with about 20 other Creston Community School District employees, attended the funeral for Renea Baker, 49, and her daughter, Breanna, 12, both of Redding, who were among the five people killed in the July 8 crash west of Mount Ayr on Highway 2.

Renea was a paraeducator for Creston Community School District for three years, most recently in a high school special education room. Breanna had just finished fifth grade in Creston.

Sydney King, 30, and Hayden King, 2, both of Redding, and Elizabeth Lakey, 4, of Grant City, Missouri, were also killed in the crash.

Willie Baker, 9, of Redding was flown to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, where he was in critical condition. A 1-year-old passenger was released from the Ringgold County Hospital on July 8.

According to the Iowa State Patrol, the crash occurred when the SUV Renea was driving did not stop at a stop sign at Iowa Highway 2 while going north on Ringgold County Road P27. The SUV was then broadsided by a rock utility truck.

“It’s a tragedy, but it’s one of those situations that really tests a person’s faith, tests a family’s faith,” McDermott said. “It was very apparent that family has strong faith.”

McDermott said he’ll remember both Renea and Breanna for their infectious smiles and the way they looked to include everyone.

“They were both professional smilers,” he said. “They each one had great smiles. They wanted people included. They didn’t want others excluded. (They were) just easy going and very friendly.”

Messerole said Renea was never one to complain, instead always having something positive to say.

“Whenever she came into the office, it was always to say something positive,” Messerole said. “The student or students had a great day, the field trip went great or I really enjoyed doing this today or doing that. She wasn’t one to ever come in and say this is wrong. She was an incredibly positive person.”

Renea had a way of connecting with her students, and worked hard to be the most effective in the classroom.

Messerole said Renea often took classes on her own to improve herself as a teacher. She participated in autism training and also took the necessary classes to be able to substitute teach in her particular classroom to provide the students with continuity.

“She was just a very kind-hearted person,” Messerole said. “She just truly enjoyed being around the school atmosphere, the students and staff.”

“Our students that she worked with, they really counted on her,” McDermott said. “Obviously, they’re going to miss her when school starts this fall.”

Faith was important to the Baker family, which was evidenced in a piece read by Mike Moser, lead pastor at Connection Christian Church in Columbus, Nebraska, who helped officiate Wednesday’s funeral.

The piece was written by Breanna as part of a third-grade project talking about future dreams.

“My dream is that our world will be bully- and drug-free. ... But most of all tell those who don’t know about the Holy Spirit about him so their lives become better,” Breanna wrote for the project. “And help the poor find stuff they need to live so they can tell other people and so they can spread the word of the Holy Spirit. Another dream is when I grow up is I’m going to try to get a job that will help the poor people that don’t believe in the Holy Spirit so they can believe and pray.”

Those were traits McDermott could see in Breanna.

“Bre was maybe mature beyond her years, as far as looking out for other people and worrying about other people ahead of herself,” McDermott said. “Sometimes a student that age doesn’t understand that, but she really did. And, it was pretty obvious where she got that trait from, because her mom was the same way.”

A memorial fund has been set up to help the Baker, King and Lakey families.

Donors can go to any Great Western Bank location and give to the Redding United Methodist Church Baker-King-Lakey Memorial Fund, which church members set up to help cover funeral and medical expenses.