Nadine Estella (Tucker) Baxter Obituary (1925 - 2023)

Nadine Estella Baxter, age 97, a former resident of Baker City for nearly 50 years, died peacefully on January 11, 2023, in Lehi, Utah. Interment will be at the Tucker family cemetery plot in Joseph, Oregon, on Wednesday, January 18, 2023, at 1:00 PM. Nadine and her twin sister, Maxine, were born on 11 February 1925 in La Grande, Oregon, to Grant and Cecile Tucker. The girls were raised in Union, Oregon. Maxine tragically died at age 4 1/2 years following a tonsillectomy. The loss of her sister was a huge emotional blow to Nadine. But Nadine loved life in Union. Her parents taught her to have a strong work ethic, to be honest, and to be kind to others. She began to attend The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when she was eight years old, and her mourning for her sister began to lessen as she came to learn of Jesus Christ. She was baptized into the church at the age of 16. Nadine attended Eastern Oregon College of Education in La Grande. In her senior year, the love of her life, Norman DeGraw Baxter, returned from the war. In June 1947, she graduated from college and married Norman in the Salt Lake City Utah Temple. The couple lived the majority of their 64 years of marriage in Baker City. Nadine taught 2nd and 3rd grades at North Baker and Churchill Schools for many years. She loved her students and teaching, and her students knew it. Nadine and Norman retired together from teaching in 1987. Nadine loved Hawaii and visited there many times. She and Norman were devout in their faith in Jesus Christ. They served six years in the Boise, Idaho Temple and for 18 months on a family history mission in Salt Lake City, Utah. In the fall of 2011, after Norman passed away, Nadine moved with her son and daughter-in-law to St. George, Utah. A few years later, she moved to Lehi, Utah, to live closer to her daughter and be more centrally located for her family. Nadine is survived by her four children: Dean (Dawnie) Baxter of St. George, Utah; Grant (Ynnet) Baxter of Fruitland, Idaho; Maxine (Jay) Christofferson of Lehi, Utah; and Gregory (Karen) Baxter of Baker City, Oregon; twenty-four grandchildren; 98 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren. Her husband, twin sister, father, and mother predeceased her.