Cornelis (Cor) Bernardus Bakker, MD, 87, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, died quietly at home in the early morning of July 12, 2016, attended by his wife, children and grandchildren. The immediate cause was respiratory failure.

Cor was born in Rotterdam, Holland, on Jan. 6, 1929, to Willem Bakker and Paulina J. Bakker-Reiff. As an infant, he contracted Pertussis which scarred his lungs and plagued him throughout his life.

Cor witnessed the bombing of Rotterdam and the horrors of World War II. At 17, severely underweight and gravely ill, he was saved by a new surgical procedure — resecting the lower lobe of his left lung — and massive doses of newly available penicillin.

He studied Medicine at the University of Utrecht, and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to further his education in the United States. In 1953, he accepted an internship at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, Wash. Here he met his future wife, student nurse Marianne K. Rabdau, of Genesee, Idaho.

Cor and Marianne married in 1955 for a love match that lasted 61-plus years. 1956 heralded the arrival of their first son, Paul, followed shortly by travel to Rotterdam, where Cor followed a residency in Psychiatry at the University of Utrecht. In Holland, Marianne and Cor welcomed their second son, James. In July 1957, the growing family moved to Ann Arbor, where Cor continued his psychiatry residency at the University of Michigan. Cor and Marianne celebrated the birth of their daughter, Gabrielle, in 1959.

In 1960, the family moved to Seattle, where, as Instructor in Psychiatry at the Medical School at the University of Washington, Cor participated in the creation of the ongoing WAMI program. Back to Utrecht in 1967-8, Cor served as Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry. Returning to Seattle, Cor was instrumental in establishing an award winning system of educational courses: Adult Development Program (ADP). Marianne, also working at ADP, followed her interest in sociobiology and the evolution of behavior patterns in species’ success. Cor and Marianne co-authored a book, “No Trespassing: Explorations in Human Territorial Behavior”, reviewing their observations that inadequate territorial skills were a major contributor to mental anguish and depression.

In 1974, Cor became a full professor at the University of Washington. A sabbatical year as Guest Professor was spent in Belgium at the University of Leuven, from 1976-7. In 1979, Cor accepted the position of Chairman of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at the University of Illinois (Peoria Campus). Leaving his tenured academic position in 1984, he became Chairman of Psychiatry at the Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, establishing a Psychiatry Residency Program with the University of Washington. He took special interest in the success of the Spokane Mental Health Clinic. Cor and Marianne also established a limited private practice to continue their Territorial Skills Consultations and Training. Cor retired from practice in 1996 at the age of 76.

Cor and Marianne sold their beloved but demanding Indian Bluff Home in Spokane in 2014 and moved to a wonderful apartment overlooking the lake in Coeur d’Alene.

Cor is preceded in death by his parents and son, Paul. He is survived by his wife, Marianne; his daughter-in-law, Giselle, and her children Alexander and Michelle; his son, James and his wife, A. Elisa and their children, Corina, Chalia and James; and his daughter, Gabrielle. He is also survived by his sister, Annie van Dam-Bakker of Rumpt, Holland, and her children and grandchildren.

A private family gathering was held on July 12, 2016. Cor has been cremated.

Cor was an exceptional human being with a brilliant mind and an astonishing ability to understand, synthesize, and explain complex concepts in clear and logical terms. His sly sense of humor and kind and gracious manner remained intact to the end. He had a profound appreciation of learning, beauty and nature. Cor was fiercely loving and loyal to Marianne, as she was to him, and together they shared 61 years of laughter, learning and adventure.

Visit Cor’s memorial and sign his online guest book at www.englishfuneralchapel.com.

Condolences may be sent to his wife, Marianne K. Bakker-Rabdau, P.O. Box 2378, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83816

In lieu of flowers, please consider the North Idaho Hospice Center as a worthy beneficiary of your generosity.