Patricia Claire "Pat" Baker

Patricia "Pat" Baker Obituary
Patricia "Pat" Claire Anderson Baker was an award-winning artist. She was widely admired for her watercolor work and won several juried art shows throughout the tristate area. Her crowning achievement as a fine artist was the prestigious Grumbacher Award.
Art was such an integral part of her life. From commissioned watercolor work to elaborate and comical birthday cards to her many and varied talents and deep friendships, everything was her canvas.
She was born in Carmi, Illinois, to Herman Hamilton Anderson and Autumn Lucinda "Cindy" Phillips Anderson and spent her first years there, but when her parents' marriage ended, her mother brought her back to Mount Olympus and into the fold of her extended family.
She spent her early childhood there where she was doted upon by her grandfather John Red Phillips and grandmother Daisy Elizabeth Kolb Phillips. She thrived in the circle of their love, in the country, in the outdoors, playing with her cousins, swimming in the Patoka River, and running wild through the fields and streams of Gibson County. She was a huge lover of animals and would bring home strays and injured wild animals her whole life through.
Eventually, her mother Cindy married H. Tom "Smitty" Smith who loved Patricia as if she was his very own daughter. The family moved to Evansville where Patricia attended grade school at Harper Elementary and then later attended Bosse High School, graduating in 1956. A tall redhead knockout with an easy laugh and a wild streak, everyone loved her. It was one of the deep joys of her life to attend her yearly class reunions and she remained close with so many of her classmates throughout her whole life. She celebrated her 69th class reunion just three days before her death.
After high school, she spent a summer as a camp counselor at Camp Carson. She could also be found at places like the Farmer's Daughter, the Blue Bar, and Pfafflin's Lake. It was at Pfafflin's Lake that Jack Baker first saw her surrounded by a circle of mutual friends.
Later that fall, she attended The Ringling School of Art and Design in Tampa, Florida. She transferred to John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis, Indiana where she excelled in the art program. She graduated with a degree in Fine Arts. Later in her life and for several years, she would attend painting retreats hosted by The Ringling School of Art and Design in the Blue Ridge Mountains at Wildacres in North Carolina. It was at Wildacres where she truly perfected her skill in watercolor.
After ten years of friendship, an occasional date, the Air Force for Jack, art school for Pat, different jobs for both, moves to California and Indiana and back to California, Jack jokingly told Smitty and Cindy that Pat said they had to get married. A few months later, it really happened. They enlisted Jack's sister, Betty, to arrange a wedding for them and they were married on July 8, 1967, at Peace Lutheran Church in Evansville, Indiana.
Back in California in the fall of 1968, Pat called Jack up one day and said, "I just quit my job, let's go to Europe." They checked their bank balance, Jack gave two weeks' notice, and they flew to Iceland and then on to Luxembourg.
In Germany, they bought a VW camper van and drove 15,000 miles to visit twenty-one countries in six months. They spent New Year's Eve in Amalfi and Christmas Day 1968 with the Pope at the Vatican. They got on a car freighter ship called the Carl Julius to come home in early March 1969. The Carl Julius made port in Canada due to a dock worker's strike in New York, they drove the VW off the ship and headed to Evansville for Christmas. They asked everyone who bought gifts for them to return them in exchange for cash because they only had $37 and a gasoline credit card on which to get home to California. Thus, a fearless and ever enthusiastic traveler was born.
Once back home in California, they didn't stay long. They packed Rogue the dog and Mr. Darking the crow into a U-Haul and headed to Kentucky to start their family. And they did. Autumn was born in September of 1970 and Sonnet followed quickly in October of 1971. Pat worked part time at The Paducah Sun as a commercial artist, drawing clothing and housewares advertisements. She also took flying lessons and received her private pilot's license.
In the following years, Pat's creativity took a more practical turn-she focused on raising her children, engaging in her new church, and pursuing various ventures with Jack. As Jack built their lakeside home, Pat worked hard beside him. She drew floor plans and laid river rock floors and did the accounting. As a team, they grew his construction business and eventually developed Cedar Lake subdivision. When they partnered in Moor's Resort, she created brochures, menus, and signage. When Saint Matthew by the Lake began building its church, Jack led construction while Pat shaped the design elements. The whole family became charter members of the church, and she was delighted to attend its 40th anniversary this summer.
In 1991, sometime after she released her feral children into the wide world, Pat accepted an opportunity to work in a stencil shop in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. She and Jack dissolved the partnership with Moor's Resort, auctioned their home, and moved to Wisconsin. This is where she fell in love with football and the Green Bay Packers. GO PACK!
After visiting friends in Paraguay on a vacation, Pat and Jack launched a leather import business that soon evolved into a rawhide dog bone venture. A year later, they decided to move to Port Saint Lucie, Florida to be closer to customs for their growing business and enjoy a warmer climate. Eventually, they would move just a little north up the coast to Fort Pierce.
Jack and Pat moved to Evansville in 2006 and retired shortly thereafter from the rawhide dog bone business. They went their separate ways in 2011 after 43 years of marriage. Pat lived in Evansville for another seven years with Autumn and several chickens, dogs, and cats before joining both girls in Boulder, Colorado until 2023.
At 82, aided by a walker and wheelchair, she toured Egypt with her daughter Sonnet as chaperone to her last international hurrah-despite Sonnet sporting a broken leg herself. Throughout her life, she traveled fearlessly throughout the United States and Europe, Tanzania, Zanzibar, India, Nepal, Iceland, Greece, Canada, Peru, Costa Rica, Panama, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Brazil, all with the same level of curiosity and wonder.
She and Autumn moved back to Evansville in November of 2023 where she spent her remaining years near her beloved extended family.
Patricia Claire Anderson Baker, 86, died peacefully in the early hours of Saturday, October 18th at her home on Ravenswood Drive in Evansville, Indiana.
She was met in the great beyond by her beloved grandparents John Red and Daisy Phillips, her mother Autumn Lucinda Phillips Smith, her father Herman Hamilton Anderson, her stepfather H. Tom "Smitty" Smith, and her beloved aunts and uncles, Daisy Leota (Robert) Phillips Fleming 1921, Bonnie Lucille (Bill) Phillips Mix, Arminta Pansy (Larry) Risk, Sherman Doris "Shum" (Charlotte) Phillips and Ernest John Phillips.
Left here to remember her in love and deep gratitude are her two daughters, Autumn Baker and Sonnet Baker (Margot Rode) and their father, Jack (Marilen) Baker, nieces Jamie (Randy) Rasure, Jodie (Joe) Horstketter, Jerri (Jeff) Hatfield, and nephew Jim (Deidre) Hill, many beloved first and second cousins, grand nieces and nephews, and great grand nieces and nephews.
She also leaves behind her beloved cat Gracie Belle and probably most gratefully leaves behind her four grand dogs Bird, August, Macey, and Osa and grand cat, Squeegee.
A graveside service will be held on her 87th birthday, Wednesday, November 5th, at 2PM CST at Decker Chapel Cemetery (3901 N 175 E, Patoka, IN 47670.) The service will be officiated by longtime pastor and friend of the family, Reverend William Peugeot.
In case of inclement weather, the funeral service will be held at Colvin Funeral Home (425 N Main Street, Princeton, IN 47670.) Immediately following, everyone is invited to join us for dinner and stories at The Log Inn (12491 County Road 200 East, Haubstadt, IN 47639.) Please bring stories and laughter to share.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made for the upkeep of Decker Chapel Cemetery. Please make checks payable to Decker Chapel Cemetery and mail to Ron Hudson, 1180 W 440 N, Patoka, IN 47666.
Condolences may be offered by visiting www.ColvinFuneralHome.com. Colvin Funeral home is honored to serve Pat's family.
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