Helen Jane Wiggin Baker
Born September 1, 1926 and reared in Detroit, Michigan. Died October 20, 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Helen attended Saint Cecilia’s Catholic elementary school. She attended several high schools as her family moved frequently at that time in her life due to her father’s Army career. She earned a teaching degree from the University of Detroit and taught kindergarten and 1st grade full-time in Dearborn, Michigan for several years. She later substituted elementary school for many years in Dearborn, and briefly in Detroit and Farmington Hills. Helen loved to travel, to read and to laugh. On a trip to Europe when she was still single, Helen and her best friend had the honor of having a private audience with Pope Pius XII. She also spent the summer in Southern California with a friend shortly after she began teaching. She was a wonderful wife for 61 years to her husband, Raymond George Baker, who died last year. Married June 26, 1954, Helen and Ray loved to be together, and Helen was usually game to try the pursuits that Ray was passionate about. They enjoyed attending University of Michigan football games, sailing and traveling. She even skied with Ray and the kids although that was one activity that she never did like. The Baker children also have had many laughs over the years about the occasion when Ray convinced Helen to join the rest of the family in a racquetball court. Let’s just say that Helen left the court with several bruises but still had a smile on her face. She was a good sport.
After Ray’s retirement, she took up golf – one of Ray’s lifelong sports, and found that she enjoyed it. It was always a source of amusement and pride to Ray that Helen shortly got a hole-in-one – an accomplishment that he never achieved. Helen had a lovely voice and sang in several groups throughout the years. One of her favorites was the University of Detroit alumni group, “The Titans.” She also found great pleasure in reading and belonged to several book clubs throughout her life. Her children and grandchildren remember her telling them, “If you can read, you’ll never be bored.”
She was a loving wife and mother. She lived with her husband in the Detroit area for 87 years, moving to Utah in 2013 because of failing health and to be near family. Helen passed away at the “Coventry Assisted Living Center” in Cottonwood Heights, UT. She was cared for by many aides over the three years that she lived at the “Coventry”, and the family would like to thank each of them for their kindness and for the exquisite care they gave to their mother. She was preceded in death by her husband, Raymond George Baker and brother, Stanley B. Wiggin of Oakland, California. She is survived by her children: Janet (Doxey) of St. George, Utah, Bruce Baker of Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan and Karen Baker of Salt Lake City, Utah. She is also survived by her 6 granddaughters and 9 great-grandchildren. A graveside service will be held Friday, October 28 at 11:30 am at Mt. Calvary Cemetery.