David Baker’s defining characteristic was determination. Whether as a husband, dad, grandfather, golfer, volunteer, collector or lawyer, David was determined to do well while also doing good.

I don’t mean to overlook or belittle David’s other traits. He was a great athlete—and a competitive one. He was brilliant, having graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and from Harvard Law School. He was a good-looking guy—as Rabbi Alvin Sugarman of The Temple said at David’s memorial service, he had an ever-present golf tan. He was giving, serving as the president of the Standard Club, the chairman of the board of The Howard School and leading sections and committees of the ABA. But the trait we will all remember him by, his determination, was one that didn’t require natural ability or intellect—it simply demanded his endless effort.