Dorothy N. Baker

Dorothy’s parents, Francis and Dorothy Walton emigrated from England to the United States where Dorothy was born in Niagara Falls, NY. She had four brothers, Ronald, Sydney, Gerald and her twin Douglas. It was a happy childhood. She attended LaSalle high school where she was a studious and active student. She then attended Michigan State University in Lansing, Mi. where she met and married James Baker. She worked to support him while he finished at the University and got his degree. They had three children, Catherine(Feb.23,1949-Aug.19, 2007), Angella Baker and Douglas Baker. As a young family they moved several times (Ks, Ca, Wi, Il) before coming to Sarasota in 1963, where her husband Jim joined Tropitone Furniture Co. Inc., the family business. She too joined the Tropitone team as Director of Advertising. And through her hard work and expertise she brought worldwide attention to Tropitone products. After she retired, she and Jim resumed their world travels, visiting such places as China, Russia, Australia, Norway, South America and Europe. Jim died in 2003 and she continued to live in the modern house they designed together and had built on Sarasota Bay. She was delighted to add a daughter-in-law to her family when her son Doug married Lauren Crist in May 2018. She was an avid book reader, an amateur artist, a theatre enthusiast, an animal lover and a world traveler. She always put her family and friends before herself. And she was always up for any adventure, whether it was, hiking the Lake District in England with her daughter Angie or fishing for Tarpon off the coast of Boca Grande with her son Doug. She always embraced life. She passed away peacefully at her home on Friday September 13, 2019. She is survived by her brother Gerald Walton, her three sisters-in-law Kay Walton, Susan Baker and Nellie Baker, her children Angella Baker and Douglas Baker, her grandchildren Heather Baker George, Michael Utter Jr. and Alison Trudell, and her great grandchildren Richard Pachecoreyes, Balin and Jocelyn Utter, and Hunter Michael Schaefer. She was a wonderful, compassionate and spirited woman who will be missed and remembered with respect, laughter and love by all who knew her. We miss her already! Friends of Dorothy are asked to remember her by living their lives to the fullest. No flowers/ no donations. There will be a small private service at a future date for close family and friends.

Tributes

Dorothy N. Baker

March 22, 1929 - September 13, 2019