Katheryn Baker, 95, of Midland, passed away on February 1, 2017. Graveside services will be held on Saturday, February 4, 2017 at 11:00 am (MST) at Mission Garden of Memories in Clovis, New Mexico.Katheryn was born on May 13, 1921 in Clovis, New Mexico to William and Mattie Haley. She was the second of three daughters. She grew up in Clovis, New Mexico and graduated high school there. She married her high school sweetheart Leon Williams and had their only child, Cathy Ann Williams.Katheryn was an avid player of golf and won numerous city championships and was runner up in the Women’s New Mexico State Golf Tournament in 1956. In 1958, she began her career in painting. She attended the Art Institute of San Miguel de Allende and went on to study art throughout the sixties and seventies in New Orleans and Colorado. Katheryn had her first art show in the late sixties.In 1971, her beloved Leon passed away suddenly of a heart attack. In 1973 she met Philip Baker in Clovis, NM and fell in love and married him. The couple moved to Santa Fe, NM where she continued her painting and had her art hanging in several galleries in Santa Fe and in Texas.They owned two shops, The Gift Horse for over 20 years and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.To be near her daughter, Cathy, the couple moved to Midland in 2008 and in March of 2010, Phil passed away after a long battle with cancer.Katheryn was a joy to all those who knew her and spent time with her at Cowden Cottage at Manor Park especially her dear friend and caregiver, Idia Herrera, with whom she shared laughter and fun, and all her caregivers, Yolanda Guzman, Angela Varela, Isabel Flores and Sara Lucia Herrera.Her granddaughter, Melissa wrote these words about her grandmother a few years ago through Ancestry.com:“There truly are no words to adequately describe our Bommie. She is hysterically funny, devoted to her family, dedicated to her art and truly a woman that has been loved and cared for her entire life. From her humble beginnings in Clovis, NM to her exciting and fulfilling life in Santa Fe, NM this is a woman who lived life to the fullest. Katheryn always thinks of her family as the center of her world and always finds ways to draw them into her. I can recount endless hours spent in the mountains of New Mexico learning to ski, riding snowmobiles and three-wheelers all while camping out in what she called a cabin. A cabin with white carpet and some of the most beautiful furnishings ever. Putting aside all of the lasting memories she provided, Bommie loves deeply and has never allowed any of us to forget what we mean to her. Thank you for being you and for loving all of us so deeply.” – MissyKatheryn is survived by her daughter, Cathy Eastham of Midland, her grandson, Mark Leon Eastham and wife Michelle Ann of New Brighton, MN; great-grandsons Mark Leon Jr. of Sunnyvale, CA, Michael Joseph and Matthew John of New Brighton, MN; great-granddaughters Miranda Lyn and Melanie Ann of New Brighton, MN; Sister Billie Hill; nephews EG Abernathy Jr. and his wife Judy and Paul Hill; nieces Betty Ray Snipes, Nancy Gressett, Linda Hill and Debbie Hill.She is preceded in death by, her first husband, Leon and her second husband Phil as well as her precious granddaughter, Melissa Eastham, her sister, Nely Abernathy and her parents.In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to: Holy Trinity Episcopal of Midland; Hospice of Midland; Holy Faith Church of Santa Fe NM; and Cowden Cottage at Manor Park.Arrangements are under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home & Crematory of Midland. Online condolences can be made at www.npwelch.com.,
