General | 10/16/2026 3:58:00 PM

Joe Baker Obituary

La Crosse, Wis. - Former University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Director of Athletics Joe Baker passed away in Tampa, Florida, on October 1 at the age of 77.

He served as athletic director for 12 years at UW-La Crosse, from 1998-2010. The Eagles captured 25 national championships and 83 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) titles under Baker.

The Newark, N.J., Hall of Fame inductee (2007) was a standout athlete at Weequahic High School, where he received numerous honors for his success in football, basketball and baseball. Rather than accept a contract to play professional baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, Baker chose to enroll at Montclair State (N.J.) University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in physical education in 1970. While at MSU, he continued to excel as a three-sport athlete. 

After graduating from Montclair State, Baker embarked on a coaching career that would span 24 years. His career began at Vailsburg High School in Newark in 1970 and ended in 1994 at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, where he was the head men's basketball coach. In between, Baker spent time at Rutgers University (1976-1979) and Colgate University (1979-1986) as an assistant basketball coach while taking on head coaching duties at Colgate from 1986-1989. While at Colgate, he also worked as an assistant baseball coach (1980) and assistant track coach (1981-1986).

He served as the assistant director of athletics/manager of athletic facilities at the University of Alabama in Huntsville from 1991-98 before arriving at UW-La Crosse. Baker served as Carroll University (Wis.) Director of Intercollegiate Athletics starting in 2010 until his retirement in 2018.

He earned his master's degree in sports administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1996.

Baker was a member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Black Coaches Association while being actively involved in community programs, including the United Way, Special Olympics, United Negro College Fund, DARE, Big Brothers & Big Sisters of America and the Boy & Girl Scouts of America, among others.

He is survived by his wife, Delaine, three sons, and seven grandchildren.