Thelma "Ruth" Baker

Thelma "Ruth" Baker, 98, passed away surrounded by her family on Friday, September 7th at her residence in Boardman, Ohio. Ruth was born June 24, 1920, in Detroit, Michigan, the fourth of seven children to Archie Burton Sr. and Emma (Hensel) McKay. Ruth was a 1937 graduate of Hubbard High School. She was only 16 when she graduated and the first of her siblings. She loved sports, and was known as "Speed McKay" as a young basketball and softball athlete. Upon graduating as Valedictorian, she began working as a transcriber at Northside Hospital. Other jobs she held included United Airlines Station Agent, United Airlines Clerical Position, and Sarasota News Society Editor. She met her husband, David Baker, while working at United Airlines and they married in 1943. Shortly after, her husband, an Army Air Corps Fighter Pilot, was shot down and taken as a Prisoner of War in March of 1944. During that time, to keep herself busy and distracted from worry, Ruth attended NYC Interior Decorating School until word of his release in the spring of 1945. Upon his return home, she nursed him back to health and shortly thereafter they began their family. With three children now, Ruth devoted herself to taking care of them as a homemaker. As her family blossomed, Ruth found time to do the things she loved such as traveling and tinkering with adventure. She owned a candy store for a short time on the Westside of Youngstown, but her real talent was interior design, specifically drapery. She was a drapery contractor operating her own business for 10 years. During her golden years she also obtained her pilots license and flew a 2 seater with her husband until the age of 72. Ruth was diagnosed with breast cancer in her 70s but she beat it and was a 26-year survivor. Ruth leaves behind her children Renee (Andy) Snyder of Boardman, Richard (Mary Anne) Baker of New Jersey, and Rolin (Beverly) Baker of Canfield, her youngest sister Betty Lou (Gordon) Fair of Texas, 7 grandchildren, 10 great- grandchildren and one on the way. Ruth is preceded in death by her parents, her husband David, her brothers Archie Burton "Ozzie" Jr., Pete and Albert "Bus" McKay, and her sisters Mildred Lewis and Louella Powell. Private services have taken place and Ruth has been laid to rest beside her husband at Forest Lawn Cemetery. The family wishes to extend their sincere appreciation to many people for their loving care of Ruth. Ruth lived every minute of her 98 years, she was a "great lady, who was a jack of all trades."