Margaret Baker, MD

Dr. Margaret Mary Baker passed away at age 60 April 24, 2020 in Port Angeles, Washington. She was born in Bloomington, Indiana April 24, 1960 to Barbara Baker and Dr. Robert H. Baker, Jr.. Margaret was raised in Portage Michigan, and won an Athletic Softball Scholarship to attend Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania. While at Penn State, she earned four varsity letters in softball from 1978-1982. At that time, Penn State was an independent but later joined the proud heritage of the Big Ten Conference. She was recruited by Pat McTarsney during the first year that athletic scholarships were offered for softball and was given three full-ride scholarships like all her teammates that year. Nowadays, sports scholarships for women seem commonplace but in the late 1970s, when Title IX was just beginning to be instituted, few scholarships for women athletes were available. She reminisced once: "At ball practice my first day on campus as a freshman, I remember thinking, 'Wow, these gals are all incredible athletes.' My high school team had won the Michigan 4-A State Championship and included many all-stars, but this was certainly playing at another level." She went on to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in 1982 majoring in pre-medicine she graduated with honors, studied for her medical degree at Georgetown University School of Medicine where she graduated in 1986 before going on to an internship at Brown University. Her experience at Penn State piqued her interest in sports medicine, so her residency was in orthopedic surgery at University San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium. She went on to spend 13 years in the United States Air Force, where she had the opportunity to do everything from sports medicine to combat casualty care retiring 1995 as a Major which included a post in South Korea. She said "I will always cherish my memories of college and the friends I made there. More than championships and trophies, what has helped carry me through life and career are the principals of discipline, time management and balance." Margaret completed a residency at Wilford Hall Medical Center specializing in Sports Medicine and Trauma Surgery. She moved to Washington in the mid-90's getting her medical license in that state in 1996 first working for Virginia Mason in Port Angeles, then eventually opening her own clinic called Center for Bone & Joint Surgery in 1999 which was affiliated with Olympic Medical Center. About this time, she started drafting plans to build her long beloved "Farm" on Eden Valley Road just south of Port Angeles and join the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra where she played principal French Horn for 19 years. She continued to enjoy "farming", raising sheep and llamas, golfing and throwing big family dinners at Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. Margaret's mother and father, Barb and Bob, retired from Kalamazoo and moved to Port Angles to be near Margaret. They always shared a love for golf, watching the Cubs and coming to her symphony performances. She traveled with her family in August 2017, as part of her parent's 60th wedding anniversary, to Salem Oregon to witness the spectacular Total Solar Eclipse. Margaret was loyal and fiercely loving, her hugs were magnanimous, she was quick to smile and loved spending time with her family and friends. She had a talent for drawing and was a published author. Margaret will forever be loved and missed by her extended family including her mother Barbara, brother Robert III, sister Elizabeth, brother -in-law Patrick, nieces Antonia and Sophia, uncle Peter, uncle Michael, and estranged wife Ann. A Memorial Remembrance will be held on July 24 at 4:00 PM on Zoom. Please contact Elizabeth Stoyanovich Stoyanovich_elizabet@smc.edu for more information. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra which she supported for many years.