John Baja, council member, pub owner

Source: The Detroit News
DEARBORN - John Baja got around Dearborn, and in the guise of Jonathon B., got around Metro Detroit.

From his birth in 1927 to his death last week from pneumonia, Mr. Baja lived in the city where he also spent the better part of 42 years serving on the City Council. His pub-style Jonathon B. restaurants are spread all over the area.

"He loved Dearborn," said Mayor Michael Guido. "He was the classic hometown politician."

Mr. Baja in 1952 became the youngest person elected to Dearborn City Council at age 23 -- until many years later when Guido would best his record by a year.

Guido remembered him as a dapper dresser who was often an irritant to infamous Mayor Orville Hubbard, though Hubbard would nevertheless keep him on his political slate.

"He was soft-spoken, but he always got his point across," Guido said.

Mr. Baja served 13 consecutive terms on the council. He filled in for 26 months when a vacancy opened, and lost a comeback bid in 1997 by just a few hundred votes.

As his political career flourished, so did his businesses.

He opened his first restaurant, Baja's Restaurant, at Michigan and Telegraph in 1958. In 1970, he leased the site to restaurateur Chuck Muer for 10 years. He also placed a Baja's in the Taylor Holiday Inn for three years.

The first Jonathon B.'s opened in the Fairlane Town Center in 1976, and every two years, he added another, reaching to Novi, Troy, Livonia, Ann Arbor and Sterling Heights.

His three sons run the restaurants now, including later additions in Westland, Traverse City and Southgate.

Mr. Baja was a member of the Dearborn Rotary, notching 15 years of perfect attendance and of the Kiwanis Outer Drive Club, with 10 years' perfect attendance in that group.

Mr. Baja was also a great fan of the Detroit theater scene, attending more than 50 performances a year at the Fox, Fisher and Masonic theaters as well as the Michigan Opera House and Detroit Symphony.

Mr. Baja is survived by his three sons, Gregg, Gary and Glenn and nine grandchildren. His wife of 41 years, Patricia, died in 1989.

Funeral services were held Monday, with burial in Woodmere Cemetery in Detroit.

Memorials may be made to the American Parkinson's Disease Association, Box 050-067, Staten Island, N.Y.10305-0005 or the Alzheimer's Association or the Alzheimer's Association Detroit Area Chapter, 17251 W. 12 Mile, Suite 109, Southfield, Mich. 48076.
Source: The Detroit News