Andre Baker Sr. was born and raised in St. Louis, MO. He attended school at O’Fallon Technical High School where he graduated with a degree in building maintenance. Soon after graduation, he began work with a minority owned moving company, and worked his way up to Lead Mover. After years of this back breaking work he chose a different path and secured a job at Barnes Jewish Hospital using the skills obtained during high school. He comes from a close knit family where love for The Lord and the joy and responsibility of being a family man was instilled in him from an early age by his paternal Grandfather, the late Grady Baker. Andre has a zeal for life and anyone around him soon realizes that he is funny, genuine and the life of the party. In a random meeting, those characteristics connected him to the love of his life, Stephanie Allen-Baker.
Stephanie was born and raised in Marion, IL. After high school she attended Murray State University in Murray, KY where she studied Political Science. Upon leaving MSU she lived in an Atlanta suburb, Dunwoody, GA. She worked for the Internal Revenue Service until returning back to Southern Illinois. She soon found a new career path with GTE in telecommunications and was in that industry for 24 years. A corporate merger between GTE and Verizon brought her to the St. Louis area and that is where the love story began.
Andre and Stephanie dated for 11 months and knew that they had found their forever love. The pair have a blended family with four children (Briana 26, Andre Jr. 24, Rakim Sr. 22 and Alex 19). The couple decided to move back to Southern Illinois when Stephanie’s mother was ill and needed her assistance. Andre transitioned into working with children at Marion Junior High School and at the Boyton Street Community Center. He volunteered many hours of service to countless children in the community. During this time Stephanie continued to work in the telecommunications industry in yet another merger, this time with Frontier Communications.
To get back to their roots, they sought and found a church home at Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church, Carbondale, IL. Andre and Stephanie both serve and worship at “The Well” under the leadership of Pastor Christopher E. Swims. Andre is a Deacon and head of the security team, while Stephanie serves in new membership.
After raising their children they are now entering a new phase in life of being grandparents. By the end of 2018 they will have 3 grand-loves. They enjoy traveling and cooking together. Stephanie uses her creative genes to run a small catering company and the two are pursuing their dream of owning and operating a restaurant.
Stephanie was born and raised in Marion, IL. After high school she attended Murray State University in Murray, KY where she studied Political Science. Upon leaving MSU she lived in an Atlanta suburb, Dunwoody, GA. She worked for the Internal Revenue Service until returning back to Southern Illinois. She soon found a new career path with GTE in telecommunications and was in that industry for 24 years. A corporate merger between GTE and Verizon brought her to the St. Louis area and that is where the love story began.
Andre and Stephanie dated for 11 months and knew that they had found their forever love. The pair have a blended family with four children (Briana 26, Andre Jr. 24, Rakim Sr. 22 and Alex 19). The couple decided to move back to Southern Illinois when Stephanie’s mother was ill and needed her assistance. Andre transitioned into working with children at Marion Junior High School and at the Boyton Street Community Center. He volunteered many hours of service to countless children in the community. During this time Stephanie continued to work in the telecommunications industry in yet another merger, this time with Frontier Communications.
To get back to their roots, they sought and found a church home at Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church, Carbondale, IL. Andre and Stephanie both serve and worship at “The Well” under the leadership of Pastor Christopher E. Swims. Andre is a Deacon and head of the security team, while Stephanie serves in new membership.
After raising their children they are now entering a new phase in life of being grandparents. By the end of 2018 they will have 3 grand-loves. They enjoy traveling and cooking together. Stephanie uses her creative genes to run a small catering company and the two are pursuing their dream of owning and operating a restaurant.