Washington, Gerthina Baker

“A precious one from us is gone; a voice we love is still. A place is vacant in our home which never can be filled.” This stillness came to us on Thursday, March 24, 2011 at McLeod Regional Medical Center. As God saw the road was getting rough, the hills so hard to climb for our beloved Grandmother and Aunt, that he gently closed her eyes and whispered, “Peace Be Thine.” Mrs. Gerthina Baker Washington, affectionately called by family and friends “Thene”, was the daughter of the late Wallace and Valerie Jacob Baker, born on November 13, 1929 in Oates, South Carolina. She was the oldest of five children and her four siblings preceded her in death, Willie B. Baker, Edmond Baker, Sr., Robert Wallace Baker and James Francis Baker. “Thene” was educated in the Darlington County Public Schools. She came to Florence in 1954 with the love of her life, Asbury. She was the owner and operator of Washington Diner. “Thene” also worked at Marlowe Manufacturing and was a sitter for the Pierce Family. She shared her faith through the years at Cumberland United Methodist Church, Majority Baptist Church and Open Door Baptist Church under the leadership of Rev. Eddie Davis. “Thene” was married to Asbury Washington for 63 years and this union was blessed with one child, Betty Jean Washington Dingle. Both of them, Asbury and Betty, preceded her in death. She enjoyed cooking and loving the joys of her heart, her great granddaughter, Gerthina, and her “boys”, Kendrick and Kaleb Hanna, her great nephews. “Thene” thought the world of her granddaughter Charity, but to the family, she was “Pie.” “Thene” will always be remembered by her family as the “Bridge Builder.” She was the last sibling of the Baker Family but she leaves her nephews and nieces with the charge to continue on with knowing that: God asks no man whether he will accept life. That is not the choice. You must take it. The only choice is how. “Thene” lived her motto: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Those left to treasure precious memories are: a granddaughter, Charity “Pie” Allsbrooks (Joe Caldwell); great granddaughter, Gerthina Betty Caldwell; sister-in-law, Blanche Baker of Darlington, SC; devoted caregiver and “son”, Larry Rouse; grandson, Jeffery Timmons; her “boys”, Kendrick and Kaleb Hanna; special nieces, Grace B. Cusack and Priscilla (Carl) Houston; her two “aces”, Christine Blackmon and Geraldine (David) Young; special cousin, Cleveland Jackson; and a host of other nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.