Baker was born in Greenville in Washington County in western Mississippi, to John Henry Baker, Jr., and Cecilia Myers Baker Radau (1915-2001), a native of Rockdale in Milam County, Texas, whose second husband was Fred C. Radau (1915-1977) [REF].
As a teenager, John Henry and Bob Roy Baker left the area to attend Marion Military Institute in Marion, Alabama [REF].