Wanda Baxter

Wanda Ruth Hodges Baxter, 85, of Marietta, Georgia, passed away Thursday, December 13, 2012 at Kennestone Hospital in Marietta after a courageous three month fight for recovery from surgery. She was born in Boone, Watauga County, North Carolina on April 26, 1927 to the late William Burton Hodges and Ola Ina Wilcox Hodges. Wanda graduated from Appalachian High School in Boone and from National Business College in Roanoke, Virginia. She worked as a secretary for various companies and individuals, including a high-level executive at Coca Cola. She volunteered with the USO in Norfolk, Virginia, where she met her former late husband, Weston Dunwoody Baxter, the father of her three children. Our mother was a full-time homemaker for twenty-seven years and loved her family and home dearly. She was employed midlife as a realtor for Royer Realty and Harry Norman, Realtors in Marietta. One year she was the proud recipient of the Atlanta Board of Realtors Million Dollar Club Award for sales. She was a contributing member of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. Wanda is preceded in death by her brother Dean Haden Hodges, also from Boone, and by infant brother Warren Bruce Hodges. Her surviving children are Kevin Bryan Baxter, of Fairmount, Georgia; Keith Duane Baxter, of Lebanon, Tennessee; and Taylor Leigh Baxter, of Lexington, Kentucky. Our mother's beautiful, "carrot top" red hair was matched only by her positive attitude towards life in spite of her pain, as well as her giving spirit exhibited in her willingness to help all. This last picture taken of our mother was at her 85th birthday party. Visitation will be held from 6:00 pm to 8:00pm on Tuesday. Funeral Services with be held at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday at H.M. Patterson & Son-Canton Hill Chapel. Interment will be in Mount Lawn Memorial Park and Gardens in Boone, North Carolina on Thursday at 11:00 a.m.