Linda Kay Griggs Baker of Severna Park passed away on October 31 due to gall bladder cancer.

She was predeceased by her parents Charles and Janice Griggs of Muncy, PA and is survived by her husband of 55 years, Dennis Baker; son Douglas Baker, daughter in-law Kathy Baker, granddaughter Fiona Baker; daughter Margaret Sommers, son in-law Robert Sommers, granddaughter Stephanie Sommers, and grandson Charles Sommers, her sister Rae Glasgow of Bensalem, PA, and her lifelong best friend Ruth Dudley of Sacramento, CA. She is also being missed by her affectionate siamese cat Pogo.

As a birder for many years she was a member of the Anne Arundel Bird Club and served for two years as its president, and for several others as its Director to the Maryland Ornithological Society. She participated in Christmas and other Bird Counts and the Fort Smallwood Park Hawk Watch. She was an observer collecting data for the 2002-2006 Maryland and DC Breeding Bird Atlas; and participated in observations and data collections for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Her activities in Maryland and nearby environs included many birding trips, and travels with her husband emphasized nature and history with visits to national, state and private parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and even waste water treatment plants. She kept bird feeders and selected house plantings to attract birds and provide food for various times of the year.

She was a founding member in 1980 of the Annapolis Quilt Guild, and participated in its annual show as a contributor and worker. She was also a founding member of the Kinder Farm Park Quilt Guild and she belonged to the Hands All Around Quilt Bee. Among her quilting activities she made quilts and dressed teddy bears for the Salvation Army at Christmas, and made other charity quilts.

She was a founding member of the Friends of Kinder Farm Park where she advocated for all the creatures of the park when conflicting interests might not be recognized by others, and received the Golden Horseshoe Award for outstanding volunteer service. She was a member of the Annapolis Horticultural Society, and served as a Cub Scout Den Leader, a Boy Scout Troop Committee Member, and a parent supporter for the Annapolis High School Marching Band.

Linda loved to cook, continually augmenting a library of cookbooks and was constantly reading those and others in selecting recipes to try or experiment. Growing up adjacent to a family farm and in a tradition of home grown fruits and vegetables, she canned, pickled, made jams and jellies and the like, all to the delight of her family and friends.

With her husband, she traveled extensively with multiple cross-country camping road trips and others in which they visited all 50 states, including a trip west along the entire 3073 miles of US 50 from Ocean City MD to the western end in Sacramento, CA, and among others a trip to Churchill, Manitoba to see polar bears in the wild.

Persons wishing to make a contribution in Linda's memory may do so however they wish. Suggestions by her family are as follows: 1. First and foremost, the Hospice of the Chesapeake Foundation, 90 Ritchie Highway, Pasadena, MD 21122. 2. Anne Arundel Bird Club, 1750 Birdbrook Trail, Annapolis, MD 21401 (for the Chimney Swift Nesting Tower Project). 3. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, on line or 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd, Ithaca, NY 14850. 4. National Audubon Society on line or ATTN Donations, 225 Varick St, 7th floor, New York, NY 10014. and 5. National Park Foundation, on line or 1500 K Street NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005.