As the longtime financial aid director for several schools in the City Colleges of Chicago system, Audrey Williams Baker stressed the importance of education to students. Mrs. Baker said they could look to her example as proof that she meant what she said.
Mrs. Baker went back to school in her 50s to get her degree at Chicago State University, even though she was already well-established in her job. Other students helped Mrs. Baker with her studies to get her to the finish line, relatives recalled.
“She felt that education was something that everyone needed. She wanted to complete that path,” said her sister Melanie Anewishki. “Everyone who came into contact with Audrey was impressed with her intellect and energy. She was a real example for everyone.”
Mrs. Baker, 71, died Saturday, Oct. 8, in her Chicago home of congestive heart failure.
Born in Chicago, Mrs. Baker was involved in the civil rights movement. She marched with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Ala.
Later, she helped produce buttons and bumper stickers for Harold Washington’s mayoral campaign.
Even in her final days, Mrs. Baker was composing a letter to President Bush that was critical of the U.S. government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, her sister said.
Mrs. Baker also owned Creative Advertising Products and Promotions, a company that produced balloons, bags and other promotional material for companies and non-profit groups.
But her passion was education. Colleagues recalled that she would help find scholarships for prospective students who wanted to enroll somewhere besides City Colleges. She retired in 1991.
“Her goal was always to not only try to provide services, but to empower students so they understood the importance of an education,” said Deidra Lewis, executive vice chancellor of City Colleges. “She really took students under her wing.”
Other survivors include her husband, Elroy; a son, Wayne Williams Sr.; a daughter, Kimberly Saunders Mallard; her mother, Edith Goode; a brother, Jeffrey Mitchell; another sister, Andrea Goode; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Mass was said.
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