Eva Pittman Baker

1929 - 2024

Eva Mae Pittman Baker of Smithfield, N.C. died on August 24, 2024 after a period of declining health. The family will receive visitors from 3:00 to 4:00 PM at Centenary UMC on Tuesday August 27, 2024. A funeral service will follow the visitation on Tuesday at 4:00 PM. A private burial will take place at a later date.

Eva was born Sept. 26, 1929, at Lucama in Wilson County to William Henry Pittman and Mattie Crocker Pittman. She was raised and educated at the Methodist Home for Children in Raleigh and attended Hardbarger Business College.

Eva married Kenneth Bryan Baker in Smithfield on December 17, 1949. She worked for many years alongside her husband, who owned Underwood Funeral Home and was Mayor of Smithfield for 10 years.

Eva was preceded in death by her husband, who died in 2018, and by brothers Harvey Smith Pittman, William H. Pittman, Arthur Davis and James Davis; sisters Neta Forbes and Esther Mulford. She is survived by daughters, Barbara Elliott (David) of Frankford, WV; Margaret Baker Krakover (Neal) of Hillsboro, WV; Virginia Cooper (Jeff) of Cary, N.C.; and Emily Everett (Eugene) of Cary. She also is survived by grandchildren Lauryn Johnson (Jimmy), Bryan Ulma, Matthew Krakover (Suzanne) and Sandra Winfrey (Brad); great grandson, Lincoln Johnson; sister, Doris Jean McCullers; and many nephews and nieces.

The family asks that memorial contributions be made to Centenary United Methodist Church, 140 East Market Street, Smithfield, NC 27577.