| VELMA BAKER |
| Mrs. Velma Ione Baker, 73, of 729 Ridgewood Drive, died at 8:31 p.m. Monday (April 15, 2002) in Blessing Hospital. Born October 8, 1928 in Manchester, Tennessee, Velma was the daughter of A. J. and Clairelene Morrow Smithson Sr. She married Philip Gene Baker on June 9, 1992 in Carthage. He survives. Velma was employed as a tax auditor for the State of Texas for over 20 years until her retirement when she moved to Carthage and later to Quincy. She was a devoted mother and grandmother and will be missed by her family. Also surviving is a son, John "Rick" Gordon and his wife Linda of Greensboro, N. C.; two daughters, Janet Wheeler and her fiancé Mike Daniels and Rita Rios and her husband Dennis both of Ft. Worth, TX.; two step daughters, P. J. Lummer and her husband Mark of Spokane, WA. and Eugena Austin and her husband Todd of Virden, IL.; two step sons, Terry Lee Baker and his wife Carol and Jimmie Baker and his wife Teri Lynn both of Quincy; seven grandchildren; three great grandchildren; several step grandchildren and great grandchildren; a brother, Kenneth Smithson; four sisters, JoAnn Reed and her husband Bob, Marie Alford and her husband Roy, Virginia Stewart and Jewelldean St. John and her husband Howard; and several nieces and nephews. Velma was preceded in death by her parents; a son, Mike Marshall Springer; two daughters, Linda Faye Springer and Vivian Carol Williams; a step son, Donald Baker; a brother, A. J. Smithson Jr.; and three sisters, Elizabeth Jordan, Juanita Mayton and Joyce Alford. Funeral services will be held Thursday afternoon at 1:30 in Zehender Robinson Stormer Cookson Funeral Home by the Rev. George Tomko. Burial will be in Greenmount Cemetery. Visitation will be Wednesday evening from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. and Thursday until the time of services at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to the Velma Baker Memorial Fund. |