Mary Donna Baker (Williams-Blake) Yore, 88, passed away peacefully Wednesday, March 6, 2019, at home. Mary Donna was born August 26, 1930, Muncie, Indiana. She was the daughter of Frank Leon and Octavia Nellie Cook Baker.
Mary Donna attended St. Lawrence Catholic School, Burris Jr. High, and graduated from Muncie Central High School. Later in life, graduated from Kellogg Community College with an Associate Degree, Battlecreek, Michigan and a Bachelor Degree in Social Work, from Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan. She was manager of the United States Army Youth Activities (AYA), IN Giessen, Germany, eventually becoming the first minority to work for (AMEXO) the American Express Bank in the same locale. Mary Donna co-coordinated the Society of Military Widows, United States Army, Fort Benjamin Harrison, in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1971, she appeared on the Billy Boucher radio program, WTTV Channel 4.
Mary Donna devoted 35 years to the VA Medical Center, in Indianapolis, Indiana as a Psychiatric Nursing Assistant. She was instrumental in creating protocols for the Psychiatric Ward. Mary Donna’s 2nd love was researching her family history, having served as editor of the Baker-Cook families’ newsletter, ‘Family Lines’. In 1984, she participated as a speaker in the Black Family History Symposium sponsored by the Indiana Historical Society at the St. Peter Clavier Center in Indianapolis. She was also a collector in the Black Women in the Middle West Project, donating materials related to the Cook and Baker families.
Mary Donna is survived by her children, Cecelia Ann (James Wesley ‘Jay’) Griffin, Sr., Castro Valley, California, Martin DePorres Williams, Half Moon Bay, California, and Bonnita Marie Megginson, Indianapolis, Indiana. Grandchildren: James Wesley Griffin, Jr., Yvette Monic (Patrick) Hutchinson, Aaron Lamonte Griffin, Marti Nicole (Steven ‘Dr. Dre’) Bradley, Dominique Williams, Thelmara Roslyn-Noel Megginson, Olivia Estelle Bueno. Great-Grandchildren: John Wayne Griffin, Ayren Victoria Griffin, Au’Jay Fatima Griffin, Andres Amun Griffin, Marley Ann Griffin, Levi Bradley, Lela Bradley, Damon Andrew Blinks, Yvonne Rene’ Blinks, Camille Mary-Edna Robbins, Gregson Oliver Robinson, Skylar Mary Donna Livermore, David Rueben Bueno. Great-Great Grandchildren: Darryl Hayden Wazeer, DarRenzo Hakeem Wazeer.
Mary Donna was preceded in death by her husband’s Donald Yore, Rosedale Blake, and Clarence H. Williams. Grandparents: Rev. Franklin Pierce and Mary Grace Baker, William and Effie Mae Cooke, Parents: Frank Leon and Octavia Nellie Cook Baker, sister George Ann Baker Eldridge Smith, Aaron O. and Gabriel T. Megginson-Marter.