Barbara Ann Baker, aged 84, of Winter Park, Florida, peacefully passed away on Friday, January 12, 2024. Barbara devoted her life to art, collecting and creating images that beautifully reflected the world as she saw it. Her greatest source of joy and pride were her twin sons, Tomy and Tony, and her cherished grandchildren, Sammy ( "the bomb") and Maya (“my girl”).
Born on June 1, 1939, to Dee and Myrtle (Click) Baker in Hamilton, Ohio, Barbara was the elder sister to her late brothers, Bobby and Jack. Throughout the years, she, along with her parents, siblings, and later her children, spent many memorable days in her grandparents' community near Berea, Kentucky.
Following her high school graduation, Barbara embarked on a career as a furniture salesperson at Pogue's Department Store in downtown Cincinnati. In 1978, she relocated with her two boys to Winter Park, Florida. Barbara continued her career in furniture sales until 1985, when she "retired" and moved to Americus, Georgia, dedicating her time to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. During her time in Americus, she had the unique opportunity to attend former President Jimmy Carter's Sunday School class.
In her fifties, Barbara pursued higher education, earning her Bachelor's degree in Art at the University of Central Florida and subsequently obtaining her Master's degree in Art Therapy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Motivated by her studies and the desire to use art as therapy, she rekindled her passion for quilting, a skill she had learned from her mother, aunts and grandmother. In the final two decades of her life, Barbara actively engaged in quilting circles, using this art form as a means of storytelling and therapy.
Her parting words were expressions of love and pride for her children, grandchildren, and friends from her church – Orangewood Church in Maitland, Florida.
A memorial service to celebrate Barbara's life will be held in the spring near her home in Winter Park, Florida.
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