Allan Edward Baugher, patriarch of Baugher’s Farm Orchard and Restaurant in Westminster, dies

Allan Edward Baugher, patriarch of Baugher’s Farm Orchard and Restaurant in Westminster, a family farm he inherited from his parents, died of complications from Parkinson’s at his home Feb. 26. He was 88.

“It seems that Baugher’s has been around forever and it’s a place the locals go for real home cooking,” said James Genthner, a longtime customer. “The place and its food — we go for the turkey dinner — really appeals to me and my wife. It really is a step back in time.”

Allan Edward Baugher, son of Edward S. and Romaine V. “Gram” Baugher, who together founded Baugher’s Farm Orchard & Restaurant in the early 1930s, was born and raised on the family’s farm that expanded from its original 60 acres to become a 600-acre operation, including one of the largest orchards in Maryland.

Mr. Baugher’s parents took out a $5,500 mortgage to purchase the original parcel after his grandfather Daniel Baugher died in 1933.

To help pay it off, his mother, Romaine, baked pies and sold them throughout Westminster.

“Not many folks were able to get loans during the Depression and in order to help lift the mortgage, they sold produce and she baked apple, peach, cherry and egg custard pies in the basement of her home and then went door-to-door selling them,” Mr. Baugher told The Sun when his mother died in 2006.

In its early days, they sold peaches, potatoes and apples from wash basins in the front yard to customers who were still arriving by horse-drawn buggies.

In 1948, the couple added Baugher’s Restaurant, which they built with their own farm equipment, labor and help from neighbors. Then they began selling turkey, crab, fried chicken, meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

Their goal “was to connect the farm products with country cooking and fair prices in a clean and friendly atmosphere, close to town and [then]-Western Maryland College,” according to a family history.

In those days, “hamburgers and sundaes cost 25 cents each and a banana split with three dips of homemade ice cream [listed] for 40 cents,” The Sun wrote in 2004.

After graduating in 1953 from Westminster High School, Mr. Baugher joined the family business and eventually took over management of the orchard from his parents. He worked alongside his siblings as well as his wife, the former Marjorie Hull, whom he married in 1961. Their children ultimately took over running the farm, orchard and restaurant.

Mrs. Baugher, who is still the business’s treasurer, now called Baugher’s Enterprises Inc., explained in the 2004 article: “We were a team. If we didn’t work as a team, we would not have made it.”

In the spring, visitors and families looking forward to a pleasant day in the country come to pick strawberries and cherries and in the autumn happily traipse through a muddy field seeking the perfect Halloween pumpkin.

In 1986, Mr. Baugher designed and built an apple cider mill on a three-story building at the orchard to produce their namesake cider, a combination of sweet and tart apples with a full-bodied taste.

“Whenever you set out to do something, if you do it proper and right, it’s probably going to work out,” Mr. Baugher told The Sun in 1995. “I’ve done all the work and a lot of it.”

Described by many Carroll County residents as generous, gentle and kind, Mr. Baugher — known as Mr. B — spent his days in the fields, hauling fruit in his old Ford pickup truck, leading kindergarten field trips, and sharing the farm’s bounty with friends and strangers.

Sometimes, Mr. Baugher would pull two wagons with his 1948 Red International Harvest tractor filled with schoolchildren and treat them to a medley of songs played on his harmonica, including “America the Beautiful.”

“Baugher’s is plain, simple and doesn’t put on any airs. It’s just all about country living,” Mr. Genthner said.

Charles Simpson, public information officer and vice president of the Pleasant Valley Community Fire Department, said Mr. Baugher was a friend to the fire department.

“He was one of those people you could call and say, ‘Hey, Mr. Baugher, could you do this or could you do that,’ or ‘We need this or we need that’ and he was always right there to help,” Mr. Simpson said. “He was a great friend and everybody here liked him, respected him, and not just his generosity but his friendship.”

The Rev. Glenn McCrickard, senior pastor of Westminster Church of the Brethren, knew Mr. Baugher for more than a decade and recalled him being a gifted musician.

“I can remember being in worship or coming into the sanctuary and Allan sitting in the sanctuary as he’s waiting for worship to start and him playing his harmonica and that sort of sound filling the sanctuary,” the Rev. McCrickard said. “It was very inviting and heartwarming.”

The Rev. McCrickard said Mr. Baugher should be remembered for his generosity, kindness and concern for others.

“One thing that stood out to me in the times I visited Allan, [was that] he would inevitably ask me, ‘How are you doing?’” the Rev. McCrickard said. “He was always concerned about other people and their well-being.”

“Feeding people, playing his harmonica were his favorite things,” said a daughter, Lynn Forman of Westminster.

Funeral services were held Saturday at Westminster Church of the Brethren.

In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Baugher is survived by two sons, Nathan Baugher and Dwight Baugher, both of Westminster; two other daughters, Kay Ripley of Westminster, and Lorraine Jones of Louisville, Ohio; a brother, Daniel Baugher of Taneytown; two sisters, Dottie Dunn of Westminster and Miriam Helton of Asheville, North Carolina; 13 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.