Sisters Grace and Lillian Baker were both teachers who had a lifelong love of sharing their knowledge with their family, friends and students.
Lillian Baker
Through their estate gift to Foundation Western, the Grace and Lillian Baker Medical Research Fund has been established in the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. This unrestricted endowed fund will generate approximately $40,000 a year in perpetuity to support medical research, at the discretion of the dean.
“This is a remarkable story of support, even more so since it speaks directly to the value of supporting research within our school,” says Schulich Dean Michael Strong. “This visionary gift from the Grace and Lillian Baker is truly transformative and will allow us to move the research initiatives of the School forward in a manner that would not be possible otherwise.
“It is all the more impressive as there are no apparent links of the Baker sisters to our school; rather a tremendous sense of wanting to play a role in medical scholarship. For this, I am extremely grateful.”
Kathy Coleman, second cousin to the sisters, whose grandfather was the brother of Grace and Lillian’s mother, says she remembers the sisters as very loving and gentle women, who both had a thirst for knowledge and a keen interest in reading, nature and politics.
“Learning was always important in their lives. From a very early age, both Grace and Lillian loved reading and learning. They were avid bird watchers, gardeners and members of the local library.”
The Baker sisters were born in Exeter, but after their father died when they were only 2 and 8, they moved to Dufferin Avenue in London, where they spent most of their lives.
Lillian, the older sister, completed her BA at Western in 1934 and became a high school teacher, taking on positions in London, Ingersoll and Streetsville. When her mother died, she returned to London to be with her sister. At that time, the London Board of Education wouldn’t accept applications for teaching positions from anyone older than 40, so wanting to remain in the field of education, Lillian took on a secretarial position at Lorne Avenue Public School, where she worked until her retirement.
Grace attended Normal School in London and taught elementary school. Like Lillian, she spent most of her teaching career at Lorne Avenue, where she taught Grade 3 until her retirement. She and Lillian walked to school every day on the same route as many of their students, establishing a warm rapport with the children.
Neither sister ever married or had children. They saw their young relatives and students as their children. Their modest lifestyle allowed them to contribute to a number of organizations over the years, including Western. Lillian passed away in 1999 at 88, while Grace continued to live in their London home until a short time before her death in 2008, at 91.
A memorial tree planting in recognition of Lillian and Grace Baker’s support of Western will take place near the Clinical Skills Building at the end of October.
Grace and Lillian did not share the reason for the legacy to medical research. The family surmises it was because the sisters suffered the loss of their father at a very early age from heart or stroke, and because they mourned the death of a young brother, and wanted to keep others from this experience. They also might have thought that because dentistry was a part of the school, they were honouring two of their uncles who were dentists.
“Higher education is revered in our family, so Grace and Lillian’s support of Western is extremely appropriate,” Coleman says. “They both believed that supporting the younger generation was vital to improving society.”
Grace Baker