Deanna Baker, 80, of Goodyear, Arizona passed away on November 17, 2017 from complications related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. She was born January 20, 1937 in Horseshoe Bottom, Kentucky to Hezekiah and Edna Alice (Bunch) Bolin.
At a young age, Deanna and her family moved to Andersonville, Indiana. She attended school in near-by New Salem. At the age of 19, she met and married the love of her life, Marion Knight Baker on May 27, 1956 in Andersonville. The newlyweds traveled to Spokane, WA and set up their first home at Fairchild Air Force Base where Marion was stationed. In addition to her support of her husband and his military career, Deanna was a fulltime homemaker and loving mother to five children. After her children entered school, Deanna entered the health care field as a licensed vocational nurse at Deaconess Hospital in Great Falls, MT . She became a member of the international exchange nurse network, and opened her heart and her home to host and mentor nurses from around the world.
Throughout her 20 years as a military spouse, Mrs. Baker was an active member in the Officers’ Wives Club, a non-profit organization providing philanthropic and social opportunities to members. She served as the chairman of various committees responsible for fundraising and charitable contributions to the military and local communities. Deanna was recognized for her exemplary service and honored as the recipient of the 1972 Military Wife of the Year award at Grand Forks Air Force Base, ND.
After her husband retired from the United States Air Force in 1975, Deanna began a professional career spanning 30 years. She was the owner and manager of a travel agency in Santa Barbara, California for fifteen years. She relocated to Litchfield Park, Arizona with her husband in 1991 and began a new career in the educational field employed as a college admissions counselor at the Arizona Institute of Business and Technology (AIBT), the Academy of Business College, and Lamson Junior College in the Phoenix, Arizona area. During this time she earned her bachelor of arts in business administration degree. She then advanced to the role of college admissions director with Apollo College overseeing operational management and recruitment at campuses in Phoenix, AZ, Albuquerque, NM and Spokane, WA before retiring in 2006.
At the age of eight, Deanna accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior at the Church of the Nazarene in Andersonville, Indiana. In 1966, she rededicated her life to Christ and became a member of the Southern Baptist Church. She was a faithful steward, serving as a Sunday school teacher, youth leader, and was actively involved in the women’s ministry. Mrs. Baker was a member of the First Southern Baptist Church in Avondale, Arizona and also attended Calvary Chapel in Surprise, Arizona.
Deanna’s personal interests included gardening, sewing, embroidery and crochet prior to the decline in her health. She was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease in January 2014 and shortly after transitioned from independent living to assisted living with her husband. Throughout the progression of her disease, she maintained humility, grace and positivity even as she lost her mobility and was reliant on fulltime caregivers.
Mrs. Baker is predeceased by her husband of 60 years, Marion Baker, parents Hezekiah and Edna Bolin, her sister Michelle Helin and brother Jack Bolin. Surviving to cherish her memory are her sister, Linda Shearer of Wheeling, Illinois, her five children Michael Baker (Melody) of Tucson, Arizona; Brenda Brooks (William) of Goodyear, Arizona; Douglas Baker (Jennifer) of Tucson, Arizona; Kimberly Scott (Dave) of Santa Barbara, California and Lawson Baker of Avondale, Arizona. She is also survived by nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
The family wishes to extend sincere thanks for the medical care provided by Dr. Erik Ortega and the medical team of the Gregory W. Fulton ALS and Neuromuscular Disease Center at the Barrow Neurological Institute and her loving and attentive caregivers Jennifer and Juve Garcia and Darwin and Marykris Bautista.
Mrs. Baker will be buried next to her husband at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made in her memory to the ALS Association Arizona Chapter to support research to find a cure for ALS and provide much-needed services to patients and their families
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