Harlene Marie Baker
- It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Harlene Marie Baker. A loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend entered into eternal rest at the age of 63 on Monday, October 9, 2023.
A resident of Greenwood, IN, she was born on August 16, 1960, in Galesburg, Illinois, to the late Harold E. and Dorothy H. (Smith) Shanks.
She was an active participant in all things regarding her school age children, even through college. Her participation ranged in a variety of support roles including being a marching band mom and providing a myriad of services to her kid’s various extracurriculars. These school and athletic activities were the clubs to which she belonged and she loved participating in every facet of that which allowed her to actively engage with her children and the communities of which they were a part.
Harlene was a registered nurse from the late 1980s in Peoria, Illinois, to her recent retirement earlier this year. She served in a variety of disciplines including intensive care service, home health, emergency room and operating rooms. Her final service prior to retirement was by staffing a health service desk triage in which she determined the caller’s health challenges and lined up health services to address them.
Almost exclusively, her hobbies were her children, what she considered the jewels in her crown. She continuously satisfied her longing to participate in all that they did. Outside of that, Harlene loved to travel including cruises, roadtrips, and site seeing. In her downtime, she loved to read and often immersed herself in craft work.
Harlene leaves behind to treasure her memory, her husband of 33 years, John W. Baker; children, Eric Grice, as well as Heather and Cory Baker; grandchildren, Chloe and Anthony Grice; nieces, Kelly (Shook) Dilks and Amy (Richardson) Hancock; and nephew, Kevin Shook.?
She was preceded in death by her parents, Harold and Dorothy (Smith) Shanks; and her sisters, Helen (Shanks) Richardson and Sharon (Shanks) Shook.
The family will receive friends from 1:30 p.m. until the time of the memorial service at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 14, 2023, at G.H. Herrmann Greenwood Funeral Home, 1605 S. State Road 135, Greenwood. Following the service, the family will host guests at MashCraft of Greenwood, located at 1140 IN-135, Greenwood, IN 46142, for refreshments and games at 5:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, we are asking for memorial donations to the Sepsis Alliance for Sepsis Awareness. While Harlene was battling lymphoma, her death was the result of sepsis to severe sepsis and then septic shock. She never recovered from that. Sepsis Alliance: https://sepsisalliancememorialgifts.funraise.org/fundraiser/john-baker?x_firstName=John&x_lastName=Baker&x_email=john.w.baker.palm%40sbcglobal.net&fundraiserPrompt=3597626. For additional information on the challenges of sepsis, visit https://www.sepsis.org/.
Please share memories, photographs and online condolences with the family at www.ghherrmann.com.