Bertha Lea Baker

Bertha Lea Baker, of Old Union, passed away peacefully in her sleep in the morning of Wednesday, June 30, at Providence Hospital in Waco, Texas. She was 88. Family and friends are invited to visitation and viewing on Friday evening, July 2, 2010, from 7:00 to 9:00 P.M. at the Groesbeck Funeral Home. Services will be held at the Old Union Church-School (located at the Old Union Cemetery) on Saturday, July 3, 2010, at 3:00 P.M., with Rev. Bill Sutton officiating. Burial will follow at the Old Union Cemetery. Bertha Lea was born in Groesbeck, Texas to Evie Anderson Sanders and Della Mae (Sutton) Sanders on May 17, 1922. The Sanders moved to Old Union when she was five. Bertha Lea attended school at the Old Union schoolhouse, and graduated from Groesbeck High School. She maintained her Limestone County roots over the years, spending weekends in Old Union, and was a fixture at the Old Union Cemetery memorial each year. Bertha Lea married Glynn “Junior” Sims of Lost Prairie on the day before he was deployed to Europe, where he was killed in action at the Battle of the Bulge. She later met and married E. B. Baker, Jr., on April 2, 1947, and celebrated 54 years with him in Dallas, Texas, until his death in 2002. Bertha Lea worked at Sears Roebuck in Dallas for 43 years. Bertha Lea was a phenomenal cook, especially her cakes and fried apricot pies. She loved gardening and wanted her yard in Dallas to be perfect. She was a wonderful Meime to her grandchildren. Bertha Lea had just moved back to her family home place at Old Union in the past two months. She was a member of the Church of Christ. Bertha Lea is survived by her two daughters and sons-in-law, Dana and Rich Goeggel of Houston, and Sherri and Clarence Moody of Grapevine, and three grandchildren, Kristi Moody of Frisco, Elizabeth Goeggel Whitney and husband Alex of Austin, and Scott Moody of Grapevine.