Washington, D. C.--JOHN A. BAKER, 68, the assistant secretary of Agriculture for rural development and conservation from 1962 until 1969 and a former legislative director of the National Farmers Union, died of congestive heart failure March 2 at Arlington Hospital. He lived in Arlington.
Mr. Baker was a native of Paris, Ark., graduated from the University of Arkansas and earned a master's degree at the University of Wisconsin.
He moved to Washington in 1937 when he joined the Department of Agriculture as an economist. He was transferred to Arkansas in 1939 as a regional administrator with the Farm Security Administration.
During World War II, Mr. Baker served with the Navy in the Pacific. After the war, he remained in South Korea with the U.S. military government as a director of the National Land Administration.
He returned to Washington in 1949 as executive assistant to the under secretary of Agriculture.
Mr. Baker joined the National Farmers Union in 1951. He resigned in 1961 and returned to the Agriculture Department as director of agricultural credit. President Kennedy appointed him assistant secretary in 1962.
In 1964, he created the "adjusted parity ratio," which appears in the monthly USDA Agricultural Prices report to indicate the value of farm commodity program payments as an elemnt in farm income.
From 1974 until he retired in 1979, Mr. Baker was executive vice president of the National Farmers Union Green Thumb Program, a federally funded program providng community employment for the elderly.
Survivors include his wife, Susan T. Baker of Arlington; five sons, Roger, of League City, Tex., James, of West Newton, Mass., Robert, of Arlington, David, of Milwaukee, and Gordon, of Richmond; a daughter, Judith, of Richmond, and seven grandchildren. --Washington Post, The (DC) - March 5, 1982 

RUBY J. ESKEW DYKES, 86, of Delta, MO died Saturday, Feb. 3, 2007 at her residence. She was born Dec. 12, 1920 in Logan County, AR, the daughter of Dewey Lee and Nettie Brown Eskew. She and Ira B. Dykes were married Nov. 14, 1942. Dykes was a member of The Church of God of Prophecy in Delta. Survivors include her husband; a son, Roger H. Dykes of Jackson, MO; two daughters, Carol Ann Gay of Folsom, CA and Pamela Kay Powell of Jackson; two brothers, the Rev. Jimmy E. Eskew of Morley, MO, and Robert Eskew of Sedgewickville, MO; two sisters, Velma Farr of Redding, CA and Jean Wilkerson of California, MO; five grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by four brothers, two sisters and a grandson. Friends may call at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee, MO. Funeral will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral chapel with the Rev. Dan Baggett officiating. Burial will be at the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield, MO.

WILLIAM ISAAC HARNESS, 65 years old, Rural Route 3, Alma, Ark. resident of Crawford County for 55 years, died at his home Sunday (Sept. 10, 1939) at 9:30 p.m. after an illness of a year.
Survivors include his wife, Mrs. Mary Jane (Weaver) Harness; two daughters, Mrs. Allie Freeman, Alma, Miss Okla May Harness of the home; four sons, Harrison Harness, Ruby, Ark., Elmer Harness, Colorado Springs, Colo., John and Tom Harness of Alma; and two sisters, Mrs. Ad Cecil of Dean Springs and Mrs. Nan Brewer, Denison, Texas.
The body is at the Edwards Funeral Home, Fort Smith, pending completion of funeral arrangements. (Note: William was born March 16, 1874 in Logan County, Ark. He is buried at Love Cemetery near Alma in an unmarked grave.) --Contributed by Linda McAninch