Lala Jane Baker

So, we just have to deal with it. I don’t resent that as much as I used to. I have come to realize that I am a very fortunate and blessed person. God has been very good to me and He has blessed me. So, I realize I am a blessed person. I want all of you blessed.” – Lala Jane Baker

On June 1st, 2023 Lala Jane Baker’s journey on this earth was completed as she crossed over into the Kingdom of heaven. She was born Lala Jane Gray on May 28th 1929 to Robert Gordon Gray and Lala Haley Gray in Benton, AR. Her childhood included fond memories of visiting her grandparents Thomas Ridgeway Haley and Sarah Butler Haley in Gravette. Their home had a wooden stove and a cellar for cool storage. Jane would help her grandmother Sarah cook, bake, and iron clothing; there was no electric iron, which meant she had to heat it on the wood stove and trade it out when it cooled. Her most treasured childhood memories were spent in her grandmother Sarah’s kitchen.

The Grays’ home was filled with books and music; “Claire de Lune” was her mother’s favorite to play on the piano when Jane was a child. Her mother Lala’s musical gift was passed on to Jane; an exceptional talent on the violin, Jane was accepted to the highly selective Juilliard School in New York. Her father, however, wanted her closer to home.

She entered the College of the Ozarks. She played in the school’s orchestra and taught the music director the fundamentals of violin, e.g. what the strings were.

A football player with “the kindest eyes” and helpfully, a car, entered her life at College of the Ozarks. Darrel Evert Baker was positively smitten with Lala Jane Gray, as she was with him. After only three months of dating, Darrel said in his famously succinct way, “I think we ought to get married.” Jane replied, “I do too.” They were married May 28th, 1948; more than 72 years of blissful marriage followed, due in part to Jane’s ability to keep her husband in line with a stern “Darrel!” He only occasionally listened.

In their first years together, they moved from Booneville to Barnsdall. While in Barnsdall, she made a handsome sum as a telephone switch operator, however, that technology was being phased out by the time they moved to Vian, OK. Darrel encouraged and supported her to go back to school and finish her degree. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Education in 1961 and a Master of Teaching in 1968, both from NSU. She served as a librarian, teacher, and media specialist.

They not only supported each other in academic and career pursuits but carried that support and love of learning on to their children, whom they adored. Karen Baker Williams, Robert Darrel Baker, Lala Kay Baker Davis, and Kevin Gray Baker, respectively, were their pride and joy. Each child had their own career goals and pursuits; Darrel and Jane required only that they mind their education to supplement hard work and determination.

Jane’s cooking and baking, with a direct line to her days in Sarah Haley’s kitchen, was legendary. It was not simply the quality and attention to detail in her culinary pursuits, but her devotion to and love of sharing this deliciousness with loved ones. Grandchildren who stayed over could expect blueberry pancakes and a glass of milk in the famous plastic Kool Aid cup, while Darrel jokingly checked the obituaries to make sure he wasn’t in them. Darrel’s hunting bounties would be served in delicious formats, the meat always moist – no small feat with quail. Care packages for college students featured “hockey pucks” and other scrumptious treats that brought lovely little bites of heaven to the humble pupil far from home. Apricot fried pies, apple pies, quail-and-dumplings, her father’s peanut butter brittle recipe, homemade bread, there was no end to her delectable fare. Despite this, she loved pimento cheese sandwiches, which still puzzles and bewilders her descendants to this day.

In retirement, Jane and Darrel loved to travel with family so they could share these experiences. It was on such a trip to Washington, D.C., taken for Darrel to see the World War II Memorial, that her mischievous sense of humor showed as she stashed cards to challenge a grandchild in a card game. Despite video evidence supporting the charges, Jane would always maintain her innocence.

Jane’s razor-sharp wit was her love language with those she cared deeply for. She exemplified what loyalty means and gave all of herself to caring for loved ones in their darkest times. To be loved by Jane Baker meant her hand would be in yours for whatever trials and tribulations may come, however dark your path may be. You were not alone. To carry on her legacy is to never cease learning, to endure fort, and to still find humor when the rain sets in. She loved laughter, she loved reading, and she loved (each of us) deeply.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Darrel Evert Baker; their daughter, Lala Kay Baker Davis; her mother and father, Lala Haley and Rev. Dr. R. Gordon Gray; her mother-in-law and father-in-law, Dorotha Minor and Luther Leonard Baker.

She is survived by her daughter Karen Williams (Ralph) of Fort Smith, AR; two sons, Robert Baker (Margaret) of Hurst, TX, Dr. Kevin Baker (Jamie) of Tulsa, OK; 7 grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren, and 5 great great grandchildren.

Funeral service will commence at 10 am, Monday, June 5th, 2023 at Edwards Funeral Home Chapel, Fort Smith, AR, with private burial to follow at Fort Smith National Cemetery. Services are entrusted to Edwards Funeral Home.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.edwards-funeralhome.com for the Baker family.