Doris Baker

1925 - 2019

With deep regret we inform you of the death of Doris Elsie Baker, a beloved family matriarch, sister, wife, mother, cousin, aunt, grandmother and friend, who passed away Jan. 16 in Annapolis, Md. She was born April 4, 1925, in Cambridge, Mass., to Harvey and Elsie Smith. After graduating from Lexington High School in 1943, she attended Boston University before working as a legal secretary in Boston up until her marriage to US Army Capt. John W. Baker on Aug. 28, 1954. She moved to Germany in early 1955 to follow John after he was posted to Bad Kreuznach, beginning the life of an Army wife that would see her move homes 13 times and take them to Fort Hood, Texas; Baltimore, Md; Fort Leavenworth, Kan; Bangkok, Thailand; Okinawa, Japan; Berlin, Germany; and Arnold, Md., while raising four children. She taught English at the Royal Thai Army Staff College, was one of the original tour guides at the Jim Thompson House in Bangkok, and was president of the Army Officers' Wives Club on Okinawa. In 1978, she began working for the Executive Office of the State of Maryland. In 1980 she was hired by The George Washington University's School of Business and Public Management, where she eventually became director of the Office of Fellowships and Scholarship and a key resource for Wolcott Foundation fellows and foreign students, even those not in business programs. After retiring on June 30, 1994, she pursued her love of travel with John and her interest in Maryland conservation efforts and Bay-Wise gardening. John died in March 2015 and Doris is survived by their daughters Diane Baker (Taipei, Taiwan), Cynthia Baker (Arnold, Md.) and Sharon Baker (Washington, D.C.), and son MG (ret) John W. Baker (Scottsdale, Ariz.), and granddaughters Alexis (Trang, Thailand) and Mackenzie (Boston, Mass.). There will be a celebration of Doris' life at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Annapolis on May 7 at 11 a.m., and interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery at 2 p.m. on May 8. In lieu of flowers, donations in honor of Doris' memory may be made to the Fisher House, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Senior Dog Sanctuary of Maryland.