“Our own personal Wonder Woman”

By Maureen Gilmer, Riley Children’s Health senior writer, mgilmer1@iuhealth.org

Kay Baker loved to tell stories, loved to laugh, loved her family and loved her cat, Shadow.

She had love in abundance, and now those in her circle are left to grieve her loss and theirs.

Baker, 57, who worked for a quarter-century at Riley Hospital for Children, passed away May 16, just weeks after being diagnosed with cancer.

In her role as a patient care tech and unit secretary on 8WE, she was a fierce advocate for patients, a wizard at fixing equipment and a stickler for safety.

To those who knew her best, she was a loyal and funny friend.

“She was like our own personal Wonder Woman,” said Ria Reschly, a nurse on the unit, speaking on behalf of many team members. “We often teased that if Kay didn’t know how to fix it, no one would. Kay’s impact on our unit and our lives will never be forgotten. We feel her loss tremendously.”

Baker notoriously shied away from photos, but her smile was the first thing families and team members saw when she arrived for work on the night shift, Speedway coffee in one hand and a bag of treats for co-workers in the other.

“I worked a lot of Friday nights with Kay,” said nurse Elaine Roope, “and it was a comfort for me to know she was there. I knew when I walked in and Kay was there that she was going to take care of things. In our setting, that was really reassuring.”

Dependable. Dedicated. Generous. Kind.

The words don’t seem big enough to capture the spirit of Baker, but to know her was to love her, said longtime friend and co-worker Carla Lowrey.

“She knew that job like the back of her hand. And she loved those kids, those patients. She would fight for the rights of those kids and make sure you were doing everything you were supposed to be doing.”

Lowrey visited Baker the day before she died.

“We didn’t say much. We just looked at each other,” Lowrey said. “I hung back up the picture of her cat (on the wall) and made sure she could see all her pictures.”

Lately, she’s been listening to the 2020 song “I Hope You Dance,” by Lee Ann Womack.

“I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance … I hope you dance”

“We loved that song,” Lowrey said. “She was more than a co-worker. She was my friend.”

Baker, who is survived by three sons, seven grandchildren, two brothers, her mother and her cat, Shadow, loved to garden, paint, play games, attend her granddaughter’s school events and cheer on the Indianapolis Colts.

She showered some of that love onto a plant, a gift from a patient’s family, that she nursed back to health on the unit, said Roope.

“She took charge of that plant. That was her character. She fixed things, and she took charge so meticulously. She was someone you wanted on your team. Just a pillar for our unit.”

Sara Murff, 8WE clinical manager, was also grateful to have Baker on her team for the past nine years, saying she was passionate about patient safety and represented the heart of Riley.

“Kay was an amazing resource for everybody as a tech and secretary. It didn’t matter what the problem was, she knew how to fix it or knew someone to call,” Murff said.

“She cared deeply about Riley and what we do here.”

The love her Riley family expressed for her in this story went both ways, according to her obituary: “She deeply loved her work family and found great purpose in helping others through some of life’s most difficult moments.”

Although she is not here to help those who loved her through this difficult moment, her memory serves as an inspiration, said her colleagues.

“As a unit, we hope to honor Kay’s memory by serving Riley as passionately as she did during her 25-year career.”