Blanche Williams Baker, caring, generous soul
Blanche Williams Baker, 100, passed away peacefully at Beebe Healthcare in Lewes Monday, March 17, 2025, with loving family by her bedside. She was born Sept. 29, 1924, the only child of the late Sen. John J. Williams and Elsie Steele Williams. Blanche graduated from Millsboro High School and attended Drexel University in Philadelphia during the early years of WWII, majoring in interior design. She married her childhood sweetheart, “Ray,” Nov. 4, 1943. Together, they raised their three daughters in Millsboro while she enjoyed the joys of motherhood and took a very active role in her community.
She served for many years as a trustee of Grace United Methodist Church and also took on the role of coordinator and leader of the church’s Methodist Youth Fellowship. During the nation’s Bicentennial Celebration in 1976, Blanche was at the forefront as chairperson of the Town of Millsboro’s Bicentennial activities, parades, and celebrations. Her artistic talents are evidenced in her oil paintings and pen and ink drawings that grace many homes here in Sussex County. One of her very favorite artistic endeavors was the “The Very Special Arts Program “ she conducted for students at the Howard T. Ennis School in Georgetown in the 1970s through her involvement with Millsboro Women’s Civic Club. She and her husband were generous benefactors to many, including Beebe Medical Center, Delaware Technical and Community College, and Grace United Methodist Church.
Working alongside her husband and other family members, she was very much a part of the development of Winding Creek Village. Blanche’s greatest joy was her family, seeing her grandchildren and great-grandchildren grow and thrive under her watchful eye and loving embrace. She will be fondly remembered by her many friends for her caring nature, quick wit, and entertaining stories of the past. She took great pleasure in living for nearly 50 years in the home she and her husband built in Winding Creek Village on the point of Guinea and Herring creeks, never tiring of the magnificent views Mother Nature provided them.
Blanche is preceded in death by her loving husband of 72 years, J. Raymond Baker Jr.; her parents John J. and Elsie Williams; and her daughter, Lora Baker Ware. She will be greatly missed by her two daughters, Janet Baker McCarty of Millsboro, and Holly B. Coates and her husband Bob of Sedona, Ariz.; her grandchildren, Michael McCarty and his wife Sylvia, Megan McCarty Brookhart and her husband Scott, Layla Ware de Luria and her husband Marcos, and Julia Ware and her husband Landon; and great-grandchildren, Sean and Kaci McCarty, Kathryn Brookhart Lorbacher and her husband Austin, Lindsey Brookhart, and Mateo and Nico Luria.
The family would like to thank the doctors, nurses, and clergy of Beebe Healthcare for providing Blanche with excellent and compassionate care in her final hours.
Friends may visit with the family at 10 a.m., Saturday, April 12, at Melson’s Funeral Services, 32013 Long Neck Road, Millsboro. Funeral services will follow at 11 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, friends may donate to Beebe Medical Foundation, 902 Savannah Road, Lewes, DE 19958, or Delaware Technical Community College, Owens Campus, 21179 College Dr., Georgetown, DE 19947, designating to the J. Raymond and Blanche Baker Scholarship Fund.
