Obituary of Martha Baker

Nov. 19 1924-Feb. 12, 2011 A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23, at the First Congregational Church for Martha Thorsland Baker of Eugene. She died Feb. 12 at Cascade Manor at age 86 after a long battle with ovarian cancer and Alzheimer's disease. She was born in Seattle on Nov. 29, 1924, the only child of Delmont and Thelma Thorsland. Her frugal and practical values were rooted in her small-town Washington upbringing during the Great Depression. She moved with her parents to Eugene in 1938. She enrolled in Roosevelt Junior High School's eighth-grade class that fall, when the school was at its old Agate Street site. She graduated from University High School in Eugene in 1943. While attending the University of Oregon, she was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority and was named to the university's scholastic and service honoraries Mortar Board, Phi Theta Upsilon and Kwama. During her college years, she also worked as a secretary to the Eugene city manager. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in English in 1947. She married Herbert C. Baker on June 21, 1947, at the old First Congregational Church on East 13th Avenue (now the Bijou Theatre). Soon after they were married, Mom and Dad moved to Ithaca, N.Y., where he was a student at Cornell University. It was there that their first child, Ann Elizabeth, was born on May 3, 1948. Mom would give birth to three more children during the next 14 years: Mary Melissa on Sept. 30, 1952 in Eugene; David Herbert on April 8, 1955 in Eugene, and Mark Delmont, on Sept. 5, 1962 in Portland. She is survived by her husband, children and five grandchildren. Mom and Dad lived in Portland from 1958 to 1966 while Dad attended the UO Medical School and completed his residency in internal medicine. They moved back to Eugene in 1966 when Dad began his medical practice. Mom ventured into the working world in the 1970s and '80s, holding positions in retail sales at Chase Flowers & Gifts, Kaufman's, Lipman's and Fredrick & Nelson. She was a 50-year member of the PEO Sisterhood and served as president of the DH Chapter in Eugene in 1970-71. She served on the University of Oregon Libraries Advancement Council from 1997-2001. She was a founding member and sustainer of the Junior Service League of Eugene, a member of Home Science, and the First Congregational Church. She did volunteer work for Sacred Heart Hospital, the Lane Memorial Blood Bank and the Eugene School District's Middle School Mentor Program. She became dear friends with a group of women in Eugene in the 1950s. They formed a "Bridge Club" that never played bridge. They are friends to this day. Mom loved books and enjoyed reading to her children when they were young. She made frequent trips to the Eugene Public Library and always had a stack of books on her bedside table. Her favorite was "To Kill a Mockingbird." She also loved music, mostly from the Big Band era of the 1940s. Mom and Dad took many vacations to Hawaii. After Dad retired, they took several trips abroad, including to Norway, the country where her grandfather was born; to England, Germany and Turkey. She loved flowers, always planting and tending petunias and pansies in her yard. In her last years, she would exult over bouquets her children brought her. Her family was the most important element in her life. She will be missed beyond measure. (In lieu of flowers, remembrances can be made to the UO Foundation, 360 E. 10th Ave., Suite 202, Eugene, 97401, for the Martha Thorsland Baker Endowment for UO Libraries' Special Collections, or to the First Congregational Church, 1050 E. 23rd Ave. in Eugene.)