Ida Francis Baker

Ida or as many knew her by “Mimi” was one of a kind. If you ask anyone that knew her it can be guaranteed that they would remember her door always being open, a pot of coffee made and her ready to talk. Not forgetting her moore menthol cigarette that she had close by. She was a night owl and hated mornings with a passion. Waking her early was always a nightmare. Growing up, it can be remembered that her late mother was very much a morning person, and she would constantly walk by yelling “Ida, you need to get up! You’re going to sleep the day away” It never failed that she would then blame Ida for her poor sleep, stating the glow of the TV had kept her up all night. To which she replied, “Mom, I heard you snoring” She always had a look about her. Like she was up to something. She had mastered the look. You can’t explain it unless you seen it. She was devoted to the lord and knew the bible inside and out. Her bible was always close by, highlighter in tail. She had notes and notes from listening to preaching and sermons. While she wasn’t dedicated to one church or a categorized form of Christianity. She was a devoted follower of the lord till the very end. She watched many broadcasts, made donations to many charities as her tithe to the lord. She made sure each of her children, grandchildren and dear friends all knew of the lord. Many of times she would provide first bibles to those new in their walk with the lord. She always made a note on the first page. Honoring the day and what it meant. Ida loved her family; she was all about pictures to capture memories even though she hated her own being taken. It didn’t matter what you looked like as long as she could capture it. The introduction of smartphones and having an instant camera at her fingertips made her extremely happy. Although asking any of her grandsons it might not be as fond of a memory attempting to teach her how to work them or repairing what she broke LOL. It never failed, one of them had to show her something. She spent her life caring for her family and ensuring they had what they needed. You could tell her 100 times you where okay and didn’t need anything and she would find reason to do something for you. She would always say she was allowed given the fact she was “Mimi” and it was her given right. This included her obsession with all things healthy. She did her best to eat organic foods and take every vitamin she thought you could be lacking in. At one point in life, I’m sure almost everyone gathered here can recall a smoothie/shake memory or her handing you a fistful of vitamins, smiling and saying “Here, take these. You need them!” She swore making the shakes with ice cream made them taste better. They still tasted like chalk no matter the amount of ice cream. Again, she would smile, and you would just gulp it down. As far as hobbies go, Ida was well known for her love of crafts, reading and science fiction shows. She could never have enough scrapbooking supplies. There was always a paper or set of stickers she just needed to have. Finding room to place them was another story. She could read at lightning speeds and retain it all. She would finish books in a night’s time. If reference to books, we mean the 500-page ones. She had a large library. She would often go back to favorites when waiting for something new to come out. A core memory for a few of us, was reading Harry Potter. For years to come, we went to book releases and later the movies once they were produced. She cherished those nights. Honorable mentions for her are also Star Wars, The Lord of Rings, The Highlander series and Star Trek. However, it wouldn’t be right to leave out true sci-fi or her insane love of scary movies. However, she would never watch them by herself. Her grandchildren got the privilege of viewing them with her. Every Halloween Michael Myers was on the TV and Alien & Predator wasn’t far behind. Most people didn’t know Ida grew up reading comic books as a young child. She loved superheroes and passed that love onto her family. She wasn’t devoted to DC or Marvel, but loved them both, For DC she adored Superman and when it came to Marvel, Thor was her hero with Spiderman close behind. As the movies increased in popularity in the later years, she loved going to see them with family and talking over dinner about our favorite parts. She loved plants and gardening. She had a natural green thumb; she could restore any plant and keep it thriving. Her gardens always grew so well and where so pretty. Music was hit or miss with her. She had her favorites but instructed us to be careful what we listened too. She knew what went into our ears would impact us. In her later years, she was however more open to new artists. Such as Imagine Dragons. Ida welcomed you, no matter your walk of life. She listened to you and would help pass on wisdom to whatever you were going through in life. She offered a family and love to those who found themselves without. She had a heart big enough for the world. In her final days, one her aides advised she was the mom to many of them at the nursing home. In conclusion, there is so much that could be said to the life Ida lived. She touched so many lives and the words spoken here are barely the tip of the iceberg. Years to come I’m sure her name will bring a smile to many peoples face and they will start by saying “I remember this one time…” And it will be a memory I’m sure that’s wild. We have to remember even though the pain we feel in losing her is very real, she’s shouting down from the heavens above for us to dry our tears. She’s running the lords ear off with a thousand questions and rejoicing on the golden streets with loved ones whose time came before hers.