Marilyn Jean Baker

Marilyn Jean Baker died Saturday, May 30, 2015, at Coastal Hospice at the Lake in Salisbury, Maryland, at the age of 83. Marilyn Jean Orlebeke was born August 31, 1931 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she grew up on Griggs Street with her parents Joe and Wilhelmina (nee Plekker) Orlebeke and brothers Clif and Chuck, whom she called George. She graduated from Calvin College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1953, and became a teacher in Hammond, Indiana. At Calvin, she had met John H. Baker of Whitinsville, Massachusetts, and they were married in Grand Rapids on December 28, 1955. His training to become a medical doctor took them to Chicago and New Ulm, Minnesota, before they settled, briefly, in Whitinsville to set up a family practice in their house at 93 Cottage Street. In 1963, John joined the United States Foreign Service as a medical officer, and over the next twenty-six years their postings took them to Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, the Soviet Union, and China. Though mostly overseas during his career, Marilyn returned to the Whitinsville home with the children while John served as a civilian doctor in Vietnam, and the family lived in Bethesda, Maryland, from 1971 to 1975. Raising a family – sons David and Paul, and daughter Ruth – in the developing world presented unusual challenges, particularly to their mother, and Marilyn rose to those challenges with energy, creativity, and a positive spirit. Whether with the family or other members of the community, she embraced the cultures with which she came into contact with respect and interest. In later posts, after the children had left for college back in the United States, she worked as a member of the embassy staff in Moscow and Beijing. After leaving their last post, Beijing, in October 1989, John and Marilyn returned to Whitinsville for what proved to be a very active retirement. A profound care for the environment led Marilyn to spearhead development of a recycling program for the town of Northbridge, and, at Pleasant Street Christian Reformed Church, she was very active in the Stephen Ministry and the Coffee Break outreach ministry that over the years helped many women in the community. Marilyn also served as a volunteer with the family court in Whitinsville, and, with the Board of Health, she worked to stop the sale of cigarettes to minors. With her health in decline, she and John moved to Salisbury in 2013 to be near their daughter Ruth. The family wishes to express its profound thanks to the caregivers who assisted her with such love and dedication during these difficult two years. A woman who herself showed love and consideration for others throughout her life evoked the same in everyone she knew. Marilyn is survived by: her devoted husband John; brother Clifton and sister-in-law Barbara (Michigan), nieces and nephews; brother Chuck and sister-in-law Faith (Illinois), and three nieces; son David, daughter- in-law Mary Lucasse and grandsons Joe and Alex (North Carolina); son Paul and granddaughters Cate and Rachel (Illinois); daughter Ruth, son-in law Maarten Pereboom and grandsons Max and Ben (Salisbury, Maryland). A funeral service will be held at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Salisbury on Tuesday, June 2, 2015 at 11 a.m. Friends may visit from 10:30 a.m. – 11 a.m. at the church. An additional service and interment of her ashes will take place in Whitinsville at a later date. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to Wor-Wic Community College for the Marilyn J. Baker Scholarship Fund to support non-credit vocational training, at: Director of Development, Wor-Wic Community College, 32000 Campus Drive, Salisbury, MD 21804. Visit www.boundsfuneralhome.com to send letters of condolence.