Rocketry Planet

MERRILLVILLE, Indiana USA — It was an overcast day, but warming none the less, and the temperatures were pushing into the 50's by the time Wayne Dennis arrived at the site for the April 30th Three Oaks Launch. Winds were light, and the fields were in pretty good condition considering—after all—it was Three Oaks in the spring.

Steve Bakos, top, poses with his rocket before flight. In the middle photo, Steve supervises the raising of Exit Strategy amid the corn stubble of the Three Oaks field. At the bottom, Steve is seen with Eric Wallace, shivering in the cool air while snow still covers part of the fields.

MORE ON THE STORY:
• Wayne Dennis' April 30, 2011 Three Oaks Launch Tribute.

Dennis already knew the launch was cancelled because he had checked his computer the night before, so why was he here, standing alone, surrounded by mud and corn stubble?

Because he was a man on a mission, and a dear friend of his had died three days earlier, and cancelled launches be damned, he was there to celebrate his friend's life by launching rockets, an event his departed friend always enjoyed.

55 miles to the southwest, in the town of Merrillville, Indiana, Stephen F. Bakos left this world on the morning of April 27, 2011. Steve, as he was known to his friends and family, was still in recovery from an aneurysm he suffered in December of 2009.

Born on August 20, 1953 in Gary, Indiana, to Frank and Vera Bakos, he would go on to attend Andrean High School in Merrillville before attending Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute in 1975, and later receive his Masters Degree in Physics at the University of Illinois at Champain/Urbana.

Following school, Bakos worked at NIPSCO, a northern Indiana natural gas and electric provider, before co-founding Prescription for My PC and Bakos & Richards Consulting, an IT solutions company he started with partner Dave Richards. Bakos would eventually find himself teaching Mach and Physics at Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Michigan as well as Math at Purdue University's Calumet campus in Hammond.

"I should have thought ahead to arrange and pick up one of Steve’s rockets and fly his last flight for him," Dennis said in an article he wrote on his tribute launch. "But I didn’t, so I chose my Viking 7 because he liked that rocket and he knew the history of the Viking series... as he knew the history of most of this country's rockets."

Bakos was an avid sport rocketeer, active in rocketry clubs in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, along with several rocketry organizations nationally. He served at one point as the Vice President and Prefect of Michiana Rocketry and served as a NAR mentor from time to time. Friends say Bakos was just as knowledgeable in real rocketry history, from the beginning, as he was sport rocketry.

"Steve was not just a 'born again' rocketer," Dennis added, "he was born again several times... the last being from about 1994 up through getting his L3 a couple years ago." Bakos passed his Level 3 certification in October 2009.

Dennis said hobby rocketry was Bakos' "escape valve." A quiet, gentle and always helpful person, Bakos' demeanor often disguised what was going on in the background. He could always be counted on to be out there, somewhere, helping, volunteering or certifying some nervous and excited hobbyist. 

An example of Bakos' influence occured at LDRS 21 in Amarillo, Texas, where Bakos and another Midwesterner, Ken Zuener, had volunteered to be Range Safety Officers (RSO). A flier approached the RSO safety check-in table with a rocket the flier called "Jumanji" loaded with an AeroTech M-1315. Launch Coordinator, Pat Gordzelik, was summoned to get his opinion on whether to allow the flight or not.

Bakos asked the flier, "How high is it going?"

The flier replied, "How high are the clouds?" 

No one seems to know who said it first, but at some point Bakos and Zuener looked at each other and both apparently said, "You're a Wildman!" And the name stuck.  

"I will miss Steve very much," Tim Lehr of Wildman Rocketry said. "He was just as you described him, a quiet, gentle man and all-around good guy and will be greatly missed. He would not hesitate to stop what he was doing to help out a complete stranger in need. I too am proud to have been able to call him my friend."

Randy Milliken, a Michiana Rocketry member and high power rocketeer, was another individual to be befriended by Bakos and shares fond memories of the man.

"When I first got back into rocketry, I started flying with Michiana Rocketry in Three Oaks, and Steve Bakos was the Prefect for the club," Milliken said. "He was always very helpful to anyone new to help them to get things right. For my third attempt at Level 1, Steve graciously watched over my shoulder while building my [AeroTech] H128 since on a previous attempt, I had a part left over and the result was less than optimal. This attempt was perfect, thanks to Steve."

"It was not uncommon for him to spend more time at the RSO or LCO table than launching rockets to allow club members the opportunity to get rockets in the air," Milliken added. "For my Level 2 flight, he traveled to Muncie to do a TRA cert since that club is NAR only. I flew it on a I366 for a perfect flight except for it landing in the soybeans. It took over an hour to find it with Steve and his son's help."

Bakos is survived by Karen, his wife of 34 years; their son, Michael; his sister, Anita (Paul) Gianaris; his nephew, Nathan (Marissa) Gale; and his aunt, Halina Wertz. In memory of Stephen, the family is requesting donations to the Merrillville Community Planetarium, 199 E. 70th Ave., Merrillville, IN 46410. There were no services. To send a condolence to the family, visit: geisenfuneralhome.com

"It was a privilege to be able to count him among my friends and he will be greatly missed," Milliken said of his friend.

Stephen F. Bakos was 57 years old.

Wayne Dennis and Randy Milliken contributed to this story.