Andrea Lynn Morse

A Loving Reflection from Husband Tom

November 16, 1950 was a joyful day for Francis and John Penny Baker. They welcomed into the world a beautiful daughter and named her Andrea Lynn. Big brother Chris wasn’t so sure what the fuss was all about. But he was only two.

Francis selected the first name Andrea after seeing pictures of a beautiful French movie star and liked the name. Almost immediately, John shortened his daughter’s name and began calling her Andy. Francis would’t have it, “I don’t want people thinking we have two boys.” The compromise was to call her Lynn and the name stuck.

Lynn grew up in a very close-knit family in Greensboro, NC. She was surrounded by her family, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. In their neighborhood there were few girls her age, so Lynn grew up playing with the boys. She quickly learned to stand her ground and many a boy went home crying if they tried picking on her. I wish I’d known her then. But most likely, I would have been one of the boys who ran home crying.

Growing up Lynn learned the value of hard work observing how hard her grandparents and parents worked. It made a lasting impression. At the same time she learned the importance of treating those around her with understanding and respect.

Lynn spoke often about her grandma Emma Baker. Emma ran a boarding house in Greensboro just down the street from a Western Electric manufacturing plant. Each day Emma opened the dining room and served lunch to people working at the plant. And she made the best fried chicken ever! On Sundays, Lynn and Chris enjoyed nothing more than eating the fry bits right out of the pan once the chicken was done.

If you’ve ever worked at a restaurant, you know it’s hard work. Lynn saw this growing up and watching her parents run the Baker House Cafe and later several cafeterias for Burlington Industries. Eventually this led led Lynn to her first career job, working in facilities at the Burlington Industries HQ in Greensboro. Her hard work was noticed and she was quickly promoted to manager.

That was where Lynn and I met. We were both working at Burlington’s HQ and had several friends in common. Our friends decided we should meet and each separately asked us to go out for lunch. Little did we know it was a blind date. From that first lunch at Stamey’s BBQ, I was totally charmed.

Soon after we started dating, Lynn was shocked to learn that in the couple of years I had lived in North Carolina, I’d never been to the NC mountains. She quickly changed that. Lynn loved exploring and visiting new places. Soon, we were exploring new places almost every weekend.

Lynn and her family accepted this Yankee from New York without hesitation. As our relationship grew Lynn wanted to introduce me to others in the family, especially her great-aunt Mable Connor. A roadtrip was in order to Anderson, South Carolina. When we arrived Mable and family were gathered for lunch. As Lynn and I walked towards the house, Mable saw us and announced to everyone gathered for lunch, “Look everyone. It’s Lynn. And she brought the Yankee!” What a treat it was getting to know Mable and the clan down in Anderson.

We were married October 27, 1984 in Greensboro in the church that had been such a big part of Lynn’s life. Seeing Lynn come down the aisle took my breath away. From that day on our lives became entwined for all time.

Lynn was the bravest person I had ever met. Nothing phased her. We hadn’t been married long when I received an exciting a job opportunity, but it required relocating to Indiana. I wasn’t sure how to approach the subject or how Lynn would feel about moving. When I brought it up and mentioned the possibility of a new job, Lynn said, “That’s great! When can I start packing?” I asked her if she wanted to know where we might have to move but Lynn said she didn’t care. Moving somewhere new was another adventure we would take together.

After a few years another job change brought us back to North Carolina and to Raleigh where we’ve lived for over 30 years. Immediately Lynn also went back to work, hired by Glaxo to help run a facility group. She managed a large staff and Lynn found nothing more rewarding than helping her people advance in their career with a new and better job.

We hadn’t been in Raleigh long, only a few months, when a freak late-November tornado destroyed our home along with many others. Being new to the Raleigh area we didn’t know many people or where to turn. Step in the Community of Saint Francis of Assisi. Suddenly we had dozens of volunteers helping us pack and helping us both physically and spiritually.

We joined the St. Francis community and Lynn immediately became involved in various ministries. Eventually she took a job working in the Childhood Education Department. It was her commitment to gospel outreach that later led Lynn to venture to Guatemala on a mission trip to our sister community of Las Margaritas, where with her good friend Gail they became known as the “ladies of the corn.” But that’s another story.

As we settled into life in Raleigh, my job with Nortel Networks required several extended trips to Europe. Not wanting to sit home alone, Lynn traveled on her own to come join me in Geneva. That’s where she discovered the wonders of a holding a Eurail Pass. She enjoyed nothing more than the freedom to explore and get on and off trains wherever looked interesting.

We came within a whisker of accepting a Nortel expat assignment to live in London for three years. Lynn thought it would be wonderfully exciting to live overseas for a few years. Lynn was excited about the opportunity and created a binder of places to explore throughout the UK. The Channel Tunnel, or Chunnel, linking England with France was at the top of her list.

Lynn loved our home and the neighborhood of Hampton Oaks in North Raleigh. Nothing was better than walking through the neighborhood and stopping to chat with neighbors. And if the neighbor had a dog, visiting took a lot longer.

For forty years Andrea has been my bride and partner in the life she created for us - ever since we shared an order of fries and split a BBQ sandwich during our blind date lunch.

I’ll love you now and forever my darling Andrea.