Obituary of Katherene Jeanette Baker

Katherene Jeanette Baker passed from this life at Gainesville, Texas on December 23, 2022 at the age of 78. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 AM, Thursday, December 29, 2022, in the Chapel at Griffin ~ Hillcrest with Pastor Leroy Holman officiating. Interment to follow in Hillcrest Memorial Park. Katherene was born in the country outside Coalgate, Oklahoma on May 10th, 1944 to Frances “Pat” (Glennon) Baker and Freeman Baker. Katherene grew up in Ardmore, Oklahoma, graduating from Ardmore High School in 1962. She worked as an industrial seamstress and bookkeeper before earning her associates degree in nursing from Murray State College in 1984. She worked as a registered nurse for twenty-three years in a variety of capacities. She worked as many as three jobs simultaneously, commuting as far as Oklahoma City and Dallas to work. Before retiring she transitioned from working in hospital-based settings to nursing facilities and home health nursing. She was a devoted Christian and member of Maranatha Free Will Baptist Church in Ardmore, Okla. since the 1980s. Prior to that she was a member of Calvary Presbyterian in Ardmore, Okla., volunteering there for many years in housekeeping and keeping children's sunday school. Katherene had a lovely singing voice and was a deft cook. She loved reading, particularly mystery novels, and enjoyed watching mystery entertainment. She also enjoyed travel with her sister and niece. Her passion for crafting was legend. Kathey’s gifts of clothing, decor and furniture are heirlooms treasured by family members for generations. She loved feeding the birds and watching all the wildlife that visited her property. She was the beloved mother of two sons. She was preceded in death by her mother, Frances Baker, father, Freeman Baker, and son, Ray Laird. She has left cherished memories with surviving one son, Mike Laird, grandsons, Ross Laird and Alex Laird, daughter-in-law, Johnna Laird, sister, Mary Whatley, brother, Joe Baker, sister-in-law, Karen Baker, niece, Leann Spears and her husband Alan Spears and their children Claudia Spears and Hal Ray Spears, nephews, Jim Baker and Jerry Baker, and cousins Wilma Joyce Miller and Barbara Ann Terrill and the father of her two sons, Johnnie Laird.