One of the most selfless people you could have ever met, Jeanette Marie Baughman, also known as the “Baking Bandit”, went to be with her Lord and Savior early Thursday morning, March 27, 2014, at the Presidential Nursing Center in Marion following a brief illness. She lived 90 full years of life, and was of Mount Gilead.
On July 22, 1923, Jeanette was born in Huntington, Indiana, the fifth of eight children of the late Harmon S. and Flossie A. (Slagle) Rinesmith. As a family they moved to Marion, Ohio, in 1940, for her father’s work on the railroad, and where she attended schools.
In addition to being a loving homemaker for her eight children, Jeanette also worked to help provide for her family. For many years she worked at Fulfillment in Marion, and she later worked in the office at George Guy’s Insurance in Mount Gilead. In the early 1980’s, she found her home away from home at the Seniors on Center, where she worked various jobs and volunteered with their Meals on Wheels program delivering meals to her friends in Sparta, Marengo, and Chesterville, and she continued helping with other activities until recently.
A woman of deep faith, Jeanette had attended Edison United Methodist Church, Abundant Life Fellowship Church, and most recently Gilead Friends Church.
Anything written about Jeanette wouldn’t be complete without mentioning her passion for baking bread to share with everyone in the community she so dearly loved. When her youngest son left home in 1982, she felt called by the Lord to “bake and take and give”, and she would bake two to three delicious batches of bread a day, every day to fulfill her mission. This dedication to baking is how she earned her nickname, “Jeanette the Baking Bandit”, which reached as far as our military during Desert Storm.
Always hard at work, when Jeanette was waiting on her yeast to rise or her bread to bake, she also made crochet rugs the past 17 years. She made 700 of those rugs, which she sold for about the price of the materials it took to make the rugs.
In 1980, Jeanette went back to school at the young age of 57 to earn her G.E.D., which was one of her proudest achievements. This also exemplifies her determination and will, no matter what life threw her way, that she overcame every obstacle to achieve her dreams.
Jeanette lived to bring joy to others. She was a “people person” who humbly delighted in the smiles she received when she delivered her bread, rugs, meals and anything else her family or friends needed.
She will be dearly missed by her six children: David (Pat) Baughman Jr. of Morral, Diana (James) Waddell of Caledonia, Linda Baughman Clark of Tucson, AZ, Marsha (Dale) Crawford of Mount Gilead, Seby (Richard) Powell of Caledonia, and Brian (Deborah) Baughman of Lakeside, AZ; a son-in-law, Charles Hammond of Marion; 15 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and 7 great-great-grandchildren; a sister, Betty Buckingham of Marion; a brother, Morris Rinesmith of Prospect; numerous nieces and nephews; by the Morrow County community, and anyone who knew her.
Including her parents, Jeanette was preceded in death by two daughters: Darlene Gillespie, and Brenda Hammond; four brothers: Ralph, Jack, William and Robert Rinesmith; a sister, Evelyn McKinley; and her former husband, David W. Baughman Sr.
Her family will greet friends from 4 – 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 1st, at the Snyder Funeral Home, Craven Chapel, 67 N. Main St., Mount Gilead. Services honoring her life will also be held there on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. with Pastor Ron Davis officiating and assisted by Pastor Brian Mosher. Burial will follow in Marion Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to Seniors on Center, 41 W. Center St., Mount Gilead, OH 43338, and Gospel Hill Ministry, 27610 Twp. Rd. 45, Warsaw, OH 43844.
Snyder Funeral Homes of Mount Gilead are honored to have been chosen to serve Jeanette’s family and your private condolences may be expressed to them by visiting www.SnyderFuneralHomes.com.
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