Baxter May Jo

Ms. May Jo Baxter gained her wings on Thursday, January 16, 2025, at Stamford Hospital. She was born on November 27, 1941, in High Point, NC to the late Annie Mae Watkins and Samuel Springs. May Jo's mother passed away when she was only 2 years old; her maternal aunt Novella Dukes and husband Alonzo Dukes from SC took May Jo in and raised her as their own child.
May Jo attended Gaffney Public School and worked picking cotton after school. She and her sister Lula were given big responsibilities at an early age of cooking and cleaning the home. May Jo and Lula made a pack that one day they were going to leave SC. As the two mischievous sisters became older, they decided it was time for them to leave SC and head up North where their older brother was living. May Jo vowed she would never return to live in the south dead or alive. May Jo first stopped in New York City where she stayed a few months with her aunt Gertude. Shortly thereafter, she decided that NYC was not the place for her, so she moved to Stamford, CT.
Her first job in CT was at Audio Tape, which she worked for several years. She later met the love of her life John Baxter whom she married. May Jo & John worked for a few years cleaning houses with a friend and her husband, before May Jo decided it was time to own her own cleaning business. May Jo spent the remaining years as an entrepreneur operating a successful house cleaning business where she employed several people.
May Jo was led to Community Temple Church by the Lord. She always said it was a voice that kept telling her to go to Pastor Densmore's church in 1992. She was a faithful member of Community Temple Church, where she served as a Trustee for a few years. May Jo loved the Lord and everything about the Lord. Her favorite saying to everyone was "I love you with the love of God!"
May Jo was a very giving person, if you were hungry, she would feed you; if you needed a place to sleep, she would welcome you in; if you needed a few dollars, she gave it; if you needed a ride, she rode you and if you needed a job, she employed you. She lived to help people, even people she did not know. She loved traveling, gardening, fishing, cooking & shopping. She was very stylish. May Jo was a caregiver to many, she had a tea for every illness someone had.
May Jo was a great mom, they would not have traded her for anything in the world! She was a provider for her kids and grandkids; there was nothing she would not do for them as kids or adults. She made sure they had food on the table, clean clothes on their backs and anything else they needed. She instills great morals and values into them. She taught them to be respectful, and to treat people as you would want to be treated. She would say "as long as you're doing right, I am in your corner, and I'll have your back". She was their protector; she didn't allow anyone to mess with her kids. Don't let May have to go get her bat and go to war because she would & have! There's none other like their mom.
May Jo leaves to cherish her memories: her two sons - Anthony (Hot Dog) & Harold Dukes; two daughters - Angie Watkins (Reggie), Melinda Baxter (Danny); 3 grandsons - Terrance Gainer, Dakary Watkins & Danny Turkvan Jr.; one granddaughter - Raven Turkvan; three great grandkids - Mason Lucien, Phoenix Watkins & Marissa Lucien; two brothers - George Dukes & Leroy Dukes; three sisters - Lula Dukes, May Jefferies (Horace) & Nadine Dukes; one goddaughter - Chantel Bryant & her three favorite nieces - Elizabeth "Tootsie" Dukes, Brenda Pratt & Mary Jefferies, a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Her special friends "The Golden Girls" Rose Bud Davis, Teresa Brown and Bertha Daniels,
She was predeceased by her husband-John Baxter; mothers-Annie Mae Watkins & Novella Dukes, fathers-Samuel Spring & Alonzo Dukes; three brothers-Herbert "June" Camp, James Dukes & Attis Dukes & several other siblings.