A 41-year-old Northampton man died following a crash early Tuesday near his home, authorities said.
Jennings C. Baumer is seen in his U.S. Army photo from his time in the service in the 1990s. Baumer, 41, of Northampton, died following a crash early Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, near his home in the borough, authorities said. (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)
Jennings C. Baumer was a father to a young son, James, who is about to turn 5, said Baumer’s mother, Ruby, and father, who is also Jennings C. Baumer. The eldest Baumer didn’t want a junior, but they shared a name: Jennings Charles Baumer.
Baumer lived in the 2300 block of Dewey Avenue, Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek said. He was in an SUV that careened about 2:30 a.m. out a dead-end alley down a grassy hill and into the back yard of a home in the nearby 2300 block of Northampton Avenue, authorities said.
The SUV caught fire, and Lysek said Baumer was pronounced dead at the scene.
Following an autopsy, Lysek said he ruled the cause of death carbon monoxide toxicity and the manner of death accidental.
No one else was injured.
Baumer had served in the U.S. Army after graduating from William Allen High School in Allentown, where his parents still live. He won the Top Gun award with the rifle team in high school, according to his mother.
The service gave him an opportunity to use his intelligence, his mother said, and he was stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado, tasked with working on Abrams M1A1 tanks.
“106 tests he had to know by memory,” Ruby Baumer said Tuesday night. “Yes, he was very bright.”
Baumer was medically discharged due to a bad knee and was a veteran in good standing, his parents said.
He worked for the past seven or eight years with Steamfitters Local Union 420 in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia.
“It was what he loved to do,” Ruby said, adding: “The welders get paid for their shoulders down. He was paid for his shoulders up. He was a fitter, not a welder.”
Ruby and Jennings Baumer’s older son, Jonathan, is also a veteran, having served 20 years with the U.S. Marine Corps.
The younger Jennings Baumer enjoyed fishing with his son. He also leaves behind his wife, Steph Phillips-Baumer.
“He was loved and will be missed,” Ruby said. “He was a very hard worker and loved his family very much.”
Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
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