- Date Of Birth: May 19, 1935
- Date Of Death: August 3, 2021
- State: Iowa
Loretta “Lorrie” May (Peters) Baker died on August 3, 2021, at The Life Center in Des Moines, IA. Lorrie was born at home in Atlantic, IA, on May 19, 1935, the daughter of George Bruce Peters and A Gwendolyn “Gwen” Peters (the A stood for Agnes and God help you if you called her that).
She was the oldest of three children and grew up on a small farm in Marne, IA. Her younger brothers, Daniel “Dan” and Jerome enjoyed the farming life, but she did not. Lorrie graduated from Atlantic High School in June 1953 and from the State University of Iowa School of Journalism in June 1957. She met William “Bill” Baker during her sophomore year. They were married on April 27, 1957, at the Marne United Methodist Church in Marne, IA. They went on to live in Marshalltown and Council Bluffs, finally settling in Clinton to raise their three boys, Cameron “Cam” Baker, Joel Baker & Jonathan “Jon” Baker. She was a Project Manager for the Clinton County Historical Society and was instrumental in assembling the book, The History of Clinton County Iowa. While the boys were still in school in Clinton the family hosted ‘son’ Ichiro Fukuoka from Tokyo, Japan, ‘daughter’ Yamiko Makita from Kobe, Japan, and ‘son’ Karl Åkerlind from Västerås, Sweden. She spent several years teaching English as a Second Language at Mount St. Clare College in Clinton, IA, went on to continue her education at The School for International Training in Brattleboro, VT, and interned teaching English in Prague, Czechoslovakia. After the boys were grown, she enjoyed traveling and taking Earthwatch expeditions to various ‘far flung’ locations throughout the world. She and Bill finally settled in Clive, IA once the boys were married and began having children. She loved spending time with her seven grandchildren taking them to the Des Moines Playhouse and out for ice cream.
She is survived by her brother, Jerome (Dorothy) Peters of Marne, IA; sons, Cameron (Andrea) Baker of Elkhart, IA, Joel (Andrea) Baker of Des Moines, IA, and Jonathan (Lyndsay) Baker of Des Moines, IA; grandchildren, Gabriella “Gaby” Baker, Ethan Baker, and Isabella “Bella” Baker of Elkhart, IA, Jared Baker and Annika Baker of Des Moines, IA, and Lillian “Lily” Baker of Des Moines, IA.
She was preceded in death by her parents; brother, Daniel (Dan) Peters; grandson, Ian Baker, and husband, William “Bill” Baker.
