Edward Thomas Baker, one of the first black students to attend Nicholls, died May 18 in a house fire in his Los Angeles home at the age of 69. Baker was chosen by local and national minority leaders, planning the integration of Nicholls, because of his intelligence and cool nature.

“They told them ‘Go find that Baker boy,'” Geraldine Baker, Baker’s ex-wife, says of the former Navy man.

He and six other blacks gained admission to Nicholls through the federal trial Edward Baker et al. v. Francis T. Nicholls State College et al. By the end of the spring 1963 semester there were 47 black students attending Nicholls.

Although Nicholls was the last college in Southeast Louisiana to integrate, it was a surprisingly peaceful transition. This was partly a result of the planners’ deliberation in choosing students and partly a result of the sensitive and savvy leadership of former University President Vernon Galliano.

Soon after starting Nicholls, Baker began reporting for The Nicholls Worth.

“He always came to school in a suit and tie,” Shirley Coleman, a former Nicholls employee, says. “It gave me a good feeling.”

Baker graduated from Nicholls in 1968 with a degree in applied sciences.

Shortly after, he moved to Los Angeles, where he lived for the rest of his life. After working as a senior accountant for a chemical company, he went back to school at California State University, Dominguez Hills, where he received his master’s degree in business administration.

From there he went on to work at California State University. Later, he worked for H&R Block, where he was a stickler for tax law.

Baker influenced people, not out of desire-he was a private person-but because of who he was.

“I went to Nicholls, because not only had the door been broken down, it had been broken down by my uncle,” Debra Baker, a math graduate of Nicholls, says.

After retiring, Baker settled into a quiet life, seeing few people except for family and close friends.

Known by all who knew him as an intensely private person, Baker lived his life exactly as he wanted it to be. He continued to do taxes for his friends up until this year.

“He definitely lived his life the way he wanted to,” Debra Baker says. “He didn’t compromise.