In Memory of Miss Mary Baker (1946) Missionary to Africa

In the Fall of 1943 Miss Mary R. Baker entered the grounds of PBTS. It was the Senior year of a gentleman by the name of Floyd H. Barackman, and they would both go out in different directions to serve the Lord in mighty ways.
Even at a young age she was already doing evangelism work as seen above with her in the Gospel Tract Distribution League.

photo above is from www.marybaker.org

I received an email from a Matthew Dickson who had run across my Davis College History blog and sent me an email about Miss Mary Baker he mentioned that his mom told me she lead four of her hospice workers to the Lord during her last days.) Her brothers Dale and Jerry (Gerald) cared for her and sacrificed much while her health was failing. (Her failing health was due primarily to what the doctor called “jungle liver” which was a result of all of the medication she had to take over the years to combat malaria and other jungle diseases she was exposed to while on the mission field in Africa.)

Below is Mary's Obituary:

Mary Ruth Baker age 81 Veteran Missionary Promoted to Glory [Heaven]

October 16, 1925--September 07, 2007

Mary Ruth Baker age 81 Veteran Missionary Promoted to Glory [Heaven]
October 16, 1925--September 07, 2007

After a lengthy 8 month illness Mary Ruth Baker was peacefully ushered into the presence of her Lord whom she loved and served for over 60 years. “Miss Mary”, as she was affectionately known by so many, was born on October 16, 1925 in Altoona, PA of parents Sidney T. And Mary V. Baker. At age 11 Mary and her family moved to Northumberland, PA where she graduated from Northumberland High School in 1943. At the same age, 11 years, she also surrendered to the call of God to be a career missionary in Africa after hearing Alma Doering speak at the Northumberland Baptist Church. D & D missionary homes of St Petersburg, FL is named after Miss Doering. Mary never forgot her call of God and enrolled in the Practical Bible Training School [now Davis College] in Johnson City, NY where she graduated in the class of 1946. She was accepted by Baptist Mid Missions after one year of nurses training at the Missionary Medical Institute in Toronto,Canada and another year of French language study in Paris, France. Mary began her mission work first in the Central African Republic and soon after in the Tchad Republic [formerly French Equatorial Africa].
Miss Mary served in Africa for 35 wonderful years before returning to the States. For the past 21 years Mary has resided at the Bradenton Missionary Village on Route 64 East. Until her illness this past December 5, 2006 Mary remained active in ministries. She never retired from the ministry of serving her Lord [just re-treaded], since her father ran a tire shop for 30 years in her hometown of Northumberland, PA. One of Miss Mary’s favorite verses in the Bible was Revelation 14:13 “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” Mary entered into that rest at approximately 6:55 PM, September 7 at the home of her youngest brother Jerry here in Bradenton where she has resided for the past 8 months. Her brother Dale and his wife Ethel were at her side when she departed from this life. Jerry was returning home from work.
Miss Mary was preceded in bereavement by her parents, Sidney and Mary Baker and her older brother John and her younger brother Howard. She is survived by three brothers, Rev. Thomas E. Baker of Sunbury, PA and Naples, FL, Rev. Dale E. Baker and Rev. Gerald R. Baker, both residing in Bradenton, FL. Mary has five living nephews and six nieces many of which have spent years in the ministry. Aunt Mary impacted all of their lives. Mary had 22 great nieces and nephews and is also survived by one aunt and one cousin.
The verses in the Bible that she chose for her life verses are the following: Prov 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Josh 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

A website has been set up at www.marybaker.org where there is much more about her life and also you can buy a copy of her book The Calling.

Making of the Men's Dorm, Patterson Hall

This has turned into a three part series about the building of Patterson Dorm. I have done two other posts about the building of Patterson Hall.

To view part one
To view part two

This scan is from the 1946 Theologue. It showed me something I have never known, but it makes perfect sense now. During WW2 there were not many men that attended PBTS. In fact the Inner Circle Men's Dorm was big enough to house them all. Originally the Old Main Building was both a men's and women's dorm with a large wall dividing the two. During WW2 many women came to the school so that the Main Building became strictly a women's dorm. After the war ended many men wanted to go into ministry and the school did not have enough room...hence Patterson Hall was needed to be built. It is interesting to me that the men's dorm was going to have a dining hall and kitchen in the basement.

Two godly Alumni have left this earth to be with Jesus

As I posted earlier today, Dr. Barackman went home yesterday. I found out just today that Miss Mary Baker also went home to be with Jesus this past Friday. She was of the class of 1946. She was a missionary in Africa for many years and set many young hearts and minds on fire for Jesus Christ and missions. I am in the process of working on memories from anyone who knew either of these Alumni. If you would like to share a memory fill out the form on the side or email me at cadams@davisny.edu I hope to have a larger post in the next few days with some photos from Theologues.

I myself never met Miss Mary Baker, but the few things I have heard about her are wonderful. She was a missionary in Africa for many years and had a passion for the lost souls of humans everywhere. She would get people excited about missions anytime she would come back to her Alma Mater.

Dr. Barackman I never met in person, but I talked to him once on the telephone and wrote a couple letter to him and received a couple back. The last one was from October of last year. He wrote it soon after getting out of rehabitation. He was excited that I was still studying the history of Davis. In the final paragraph he wrote.

"I was released from Broad Acres rehabitation center on September 8th (2006) after having been there for eight months. It is wonderful to be home with my wife, I have been doing a study of Psalm 23. It will be an exciting time when we are with John A. Davis and John R. Clements in glory and learn more about the school's history. I appreciate your interest in this and your desire to maintain a current history of today's events."

Well Dr. Barackman now you are in glory talking to Dr. Davis and Mr. Clements. Soon we will be together either when Christ returns or I go to be with Him.

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Please share your memories of these two godly Alumni. I know I would love hear more about both and I know other Alumni will too.

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Dr. Barackman's Obiturary -Sun-Gazette
Dr. Barackman's Obituary- Press and Sun
Miss Mary Baker's Obituary