Josephine "Jo" Grace Baker

Josephine (Jo) Grace Baker, 78, of Grants Pass, passed away Saturday, January 4, 2014, at her home.

A celebration of life will be held on March 1, 2014, please contact her daughter, Beverly, for details.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to a charity of the donor’s choice. A few of Jo’s favorite charities were Unicef, Josephine Community Libraries P.O. Box 1684, Grants Pass, OR 97528, and Josephine County Food Bank (UCAN) 1470 SE M St., Ste 1C Grants Pass, OR 97526. The type of Christmas gifts she most enjoyed giving and receiving were gifts of donations to worthy causes.

Jo was born October 7, 1935 in Neola, Iowa. She moved to San Francisco and graduated from Notre Dame High School in 1954. In 1959 she worked for a short time at Baker & Hamilton in San Francisco where she met her future husband, Kenneth A. Baker. She then chose banking as her career, where she worked for B of A in San Francisco and Concord for over 25 years, retiring in 1988. She celebrated retirement by doing two of the things she loved; spending time with family and going on road trips; within months of retirement she went on a grand road trip with her sisters and sister-in-laws. She continued to go on many trips with immediate and distant family. In 2000 she and her husband, Kenny, moved to Placerville, CA, and in 2002 they moved to Grants Pass Oregon, to be closer to family.

She enjoyed spending time with her family, near and far. She was spiritual, generous, a volunteer, a good friend and neighbor, a great listener, an avid reader, an activist, and a wonderful mom and grandmother.

Survivors include two daughters, Bonnie Branco of Coquille, Or and Beverly Walker of Grants Pass Or; four grandchildren; sisters Helen Blakely and Susanne Smith; brothers, Patrick Welch, Jerry Welch and wife Kathy, and Jim Welch and wife, Kay; many nieces and nephews; and many friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Kenneth Baker in 2003; her son Kenneth Baker, Jr. in 2002; brothers, Robert Welch and Richard Duff; sisters, Rita Mae Kott and Sally Blue.

We must not weep at an end
for there is no end.
We are not what we were.
We cannot lose what we have gained.
We have met, we have touched each other with smiles,
Exchanged unknown emotions.
We have embraced without shame.
We have met for a season,
A brief interlude in time
And so we part, the purpose done…

David Burrows