Ann Jeannette Hatton Baxter was born November 27, 1934 to Fred Douglas and Virginia Witherspoon Hatton in Darby, North Carolina. She attended the little one room Darby Elementary School with her sister, brothers and cousins. She graduated from Lincoln Heights High School in Wilkesboro, North Carolina in 1952. After high school, Ann studied English and Business Administration at Bluefield State College in Bluefield, West Virginia. She later attended Cleveland State University where she received a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Administration in 1974.
Ann worked in the Cleveland Public School District for 35 years. She taught English for eight years and served as a consultant teacher for the English Language Arts Department many years thereafter. Additionally, she was a consultant teacher and Chapter One Reading Projects consultant. She retired from the Cleveland Public School district in 1989.
During Ann’s years in the Cleveland Public School District, she met the love of her life Warner Baxter. Although they both attended Bluefield State College, they didn’t meet until working for the Cleveland Public School System. They were married in 1967 and were married for 49 years when he preceded her in death.
Ann was a kind and generous person. She always remembered her humble beginnings and loved coming home to Darby, North Carolina to visit family and friends. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, the Ohio Retired Teachers Union, a Missions Member of the Lee Heights Church and a 25-year volunteer at Cleveland Clinic’s South Pointe Hospital.
Ann leaves to cherish her memory, her loving great niece who was more like a granddaughter, Nikisha Washington a loving caregiver to Ann for six years, Shamya and Nikiya, her great-great nieces (daughters of Nikisha), Nathan Lee Barber, Lathaniel Barber and TyJuan Harris (Sons of Nathan Lee Barber), Maurice Hatton, Paul Hatton, (who preceded her in death) and a host of family and friends.
A receiving of friends will be held to honor Ann on Saturday, January 2, 2021 at Pendry’s Lenoir Funeral Home in Lenoir, North Carolina from 10:00 am until 11:30 am. A private burial will take place at the Hatton-Hendrix Cemetery in Darby.
Words of comfort may be expressed to the family at www.pendrysfuneralhone.com
Pendry’s Lenoir Funeral Home is honored to serve the family of Mrs. Ann Janette Hatton Baxter.