Anita Heckle Baker

1934 - 2024

Anita Heckle Baker

May 6, 1934 - March 17, 2024

Columbia, South Carolina - Anita Heckle Baker passed away peacefully at home March 17, 2024, after a brief illness. Beloved mother, sister, aunt, cousin, and friend, Anita was known by her love for people and the impact she made in others' lives for the better.

Born in Bennettsville, SC, on May 6, 1934, to Harvey Newton Heckle and Mary Helen Pitts Heckle, she and her sister, Amelia Heckle Stone, moved several times within the state of South Carolina as children of a Civil Engineer with the South Carolina Highway Department. The family moved to Florence until Anita's teenage years of life, when the family settled in Chester, SC. She is a graduate of Chester High School Class of 1952.

Anita graduated from Furman University in 1956 with a BA in Music. Her first employment position after graduation was to serve as organist for Augusta Road Baptist Church. She moved to Columbia, SC, to work for the South Carolina Baptist Convention, Student Department, and served as Associate Director for nine years. She then her career in nonprofit management as Associate Director of the American Heart Association in SC where she served for nine years.

Anita met her husband, Columbia attorney, Charles Edward Baker, (Baker Ravenel and Bender, L.L.P.) while working for the American Heart Association in Columbia, SC, and the two found they shared a love of the arts. She served her community well as a volunteer with the Columbia Music Festival Association, Town Theatre, Columbia Drama Club, Evening Music Club and Crepe Myrtle Garden Club

Anita had the talent and ability to teach music to young children. She served as the Music Makers choir director at Kilbourne Park Baptist Church for many years. She taught music and chorus at Timmerman School for eleven years.

Anita served for the Mental Health Association of South Carolina, now Mental Health America of South Carolina, for twenty-five years. She helped many people and their families find the services they needed so they might better manage their journey with mental illness.

After retirement, Anita continued to serve part-time as volunteer coordinator for the box office at Town Theatre. She and Charlie both served on the Board of Directors for many years and all four members of the family were involved at Town Theatre either on or off the stage for decades. Anita was recognized for over fifty years of volunteer service to Town Theatre.

Anita Heckle Baker was predeceased by her parents, Harvey Newton Heckle and Mary Helen Pitts Heckle and her husband, Charles Edward Baker. She is survived by her sister, Amelia Heckle Stone, her two daughters, Anita Tremblay Baker and Carol Minton Baker, and many nieces and nephews, and cousins.

A Visitation will be held on April 5, 2024, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the Dunbar Funeral Home on Devine Street. The Funeral will be held on April 6, 2024, at 2:00 PM at Kilbourne Park Baptist Church immediately followed by a burial service at Elmwood Cemetery. Information is available on the website www.DunbarFunerals.com.

The family asks that memorials be sent to Town Theatre and to Kilbourne Park Baptist Church.