Laura Hargis Baxter, 70, of Gloucester, VA, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, on December 19, 2025.
Laura was born November 13, 1955, to Dolores Hargis (now Mergenthaler) and Dr. William Jennings Hargis Jr. A lifelong resident of Gloucester, VA, she graduated from Gloucester High School and Christopher Newport University. During her early career, she worked for the Gloucester Health Department before starting her own small business, Laura H. Baxter Soil Consulting.
Laura's life was forever changed on July 14, 1987. She was struck on the driver's side of her minivan by a tractor-trailer running a red light after dropping her three girls (ages 4, 2, and 8 months) off at their babysitter. She suffered a catastrophic head injury and brain stem injury, leaving her in a coma for approximately two and a half months, followed by more than two years of extended hospitalization and rehabilitation.
Laura lived the rest of her life as a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) survivor, enduring its effects with determination, strength, and quiet bravery. She advocated for Congress to pass landmark civil rights legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act, which passed in 1990, after personally experiencing the lack of access and resources available to herself and others living with disabilities.
That was just the beginning of her advocacy for those with disabilities and head injuries, as detailed in multiple articles in The Daily Press, including Head Injury Victim Speaks From Painful Experience (June 3, 1992), Accident Survivor Wants Bigger Rigs to Be Sidelined (March 18, 1996), and Disabilities Aren't Always Disabling (August 1, 1997). These articles detailed her work to increase highway safety, resist larger, heavier trucks, and raise awareness of the long-term consequences of brain trauma. They mirrored her refusal to be defined by constraints and her insistence on making her voice heard.
Laura volunteered with the Brain Injury Association of Virginia and the Tidewater Chapter of the Virginia Head Injury Foundation in the wake of her injury. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, she remained directly involved in disability and transportation safety efforts at both the state and national levels.
In 1991, she and her family participated in the Rally for the Head Injured on the Mall in Washington, D.C., culminating at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, to demand that Congress pass the Traumatic Brain Injury Act. She also presented testimony to the State Commission on Disabilities, speaking alongside Jim Brady (former press secretary to President Reagan, who suffered a head injury following an assassination attempt on the president) and the president of the Survivors Association.
Laura was extremely active in her community throughout her life, volunteering whenever she could in Gloucester County and at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (where her father served as Director for many years).
"She was always thinking and planning on how we could make things better in Gloucester and be inclusive so that everyone could enjoy our public facilities. She was kind and generous. She and John helped Park Partners fulfill their work to improve county parks. Laura leaves us in awe of her fight, determination, and love of family and community. May those traits live on in all of us." - Carol Steele, County Administrator
More than anything else, Laura cared deeply for her children and loved them fiercely, without hesitation. In more recent years, she became a Grammy to eight grandchildren, who gave her an immense sense of pride and joy. She found peace tending her garden, loved spending time with family and friends, and was always entranced by the water that had influenced her early life.
Sailing was a passion from a very young age and always a source of joy for her. Laura and her husband, John, became acquainted through their shared love of the water. They married on September 20, 1980, and spent many years sailing together. After her accident, while she could no longer easily sail, they enjoyed many summers on their boat, The Abyss, where they loved hosting family and friends for cruises around the Chesapeake Bay.
She was preceded in death by her father, Dr. William Jennings Hargis Jr. She is survived by her husband of 45 years, John F. Baxter; her three children, Racheal Baxter Cook (Jameson Cook), Mary Kathryn Keene (Jason Keene), and Elizabeth Quayle Baxter (Dale Roane); her grandchildren, Alexander P. Cook, Juliana G. Cook, Mitchell J. Cook, Pearl A. Keene, Lilian J. Keene, Emersyn Q. Baxter-Roane, Elijah Q. Baxter-Roane, and Evelyn Q. Baxter-Roane; her mother, Dolores Mergenthaler; her stepmother, Marcia Hargis; her siblings, T. Jonathan Hargis (Sharon Hargis), Susan King (Richard King), Emily Irvin (David Irvin), Ron Hargis (Mike Webster), and Pat Hargis (Michelle Hargis); and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.
A memorial service will be held on January 10 at 1:00 p.m. at Abingdon Episcopal Church, 4645 George Washington Memorial Highway, Hayes, VA 23072. In lieu of flowers, please donate in Laura's memory to the Brain Injury Association of Virginia at BIAV.net.
Laura was born November 13, 1955, to Dolores Hargis (now Mergenthaler) and Dr. William Jennings Hargis Jr. A lifelong resident of Gloucester, VA, she graduated from Gloucester High School and Christopher Newport University. During her early career, she worked for the Gloucester Health Department before starting her own small business, Laura H. Baxter Soil Consulting.
Laura's life was forever changed on July 14, 1987. She was struck on the driver's side of her minivan by a tractor-trailer running a red light after dropping her three girls (ages 4, 2, and 8 months) off at their babysitter. She suffered a catastrophic head injury and brain stem injury, leaving her in a coma for approximately two and a half months, followed by more than two years of extended hospitalization and rehabilitation.
Laura lived the rest of her life as a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) survivor, enduring its effects with determination, strength, and quiet bravery. She advocated for Congress to pass landmark civil rights legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act, which passed in 1990, after personally experiencing the lack of access and resources available to herself and others living with disabilities.
That was just the beginning of her advocacy for those with disabilities and head injuries, as detailed in multiple articles in The Daily Press, including Head Injury Victim Speaks From Painful Experience (June 3, 1992), Accident Survivor Wants Bigger Rigs to Be Sidelined (March 18, 1996), and Disabilities Aren't Always Disabling (August 1, 1997). These articles detailed her work to increase highway safety, resist larger, heavier trucks, and raise awareness of the long-term consequences of brain trauma. They mirrored her refusal to be defined by constraints and her insistence on making her voice heard.
Laura volunteered with the Brain Injury Association of Virginia and the Tidewater Chapter of the Virginia Head Injury Foundation in the wake of her injury. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, she remained directly involved in disability and transportation safety efforts at both the state and national levels.
In 1991, she and her family participated in the Rally for the Head Injured on the Mall in Washington, D.C., culminating at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, to demand that Congress pass the Traumatic Brain Injury Act. She also presented testimony to the State Commission on Disabilities, speaking alongside Jim Brady (former press secretary to President Reagan, who suffered a head injury following an assassination attempt on the president) and the president of the Survivors Association.
Laura was extremely active in her community throughout her life, volunteering whenever she could in Gloucester County and at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (where her father served as Director for many years).
"She was always thinking and planning on how we could make things better in Gloucester and be inclusive so that everyone could enjoy our public facilities. She was kind and generous. She and John helped Park Partners fulfill their work to improve county parks. Laura leaves us in awe of her fight, determination, and love of family and community. May those traits live on in all of us." - Carol Steele, County Administrator
More than anything else, Laura cared deeply for her children and loved them fiercely, without hesitation. In more recent years, she became a Grammy to eight grandchildren, who gave her an immense sense of pride and joy. She found peace tending her garden, loved spending time with family and friends, and was always entranced by the water that had influenced her early life.
Sailing was a passion from a very young age and always a source of joy for her. Laura and her husband, John, became acquainted through their shared love of the water. They married on September 20, 1980, and spent many years sailing together. After her accident, while she could no longer easily sail, they enjoyed many summers on their boat, The Abyss, where they loved hosting family and friends for cruises around the Chesapeake Bay.
She was preceded in death by her father, Dr. William Jennings Hargis Jr. She is survived by her husband of 45 years, John F. Baxter; her three children, Racheal Baxter Cook (Jameson Cook), Mary Kathryn Keene (Jason Keene), and Elizabeth Quayle Baxter (Dale Roane); her grandchildren, Alexander P. Cook, Juliana G. Cook, Mitchell J. Cook, Pearl A. Keene, Lilian J. Keene, Emersyn Q. Baxter-Roane, Elijah Q. Baxter-Roane, and Evelyn Q. Baxter-Roane; her mother, Dolores Mergenthaler; her stepmother, Marcia Hargis; her siblings, T. Jonathan Hargis (Sharon Hargis), Susan King (Richard King), Emily Irvin (David Irvin), Ron Hargis (Mike Webster), and Pat Hargis (Michelle Hargis); and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.
A memorial service will be held on January 10 at 1:00 p.m. at Abingdon Episcopal Church, 4645 George Washington Memorial Highway, Hayes, VA 23072. In lieu of flowers, please donate in Laura's memory to the Brain Injury Association of Virginia at BIAV.net.
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