FORT GARLAND — Nancy McAden Baker, a native of the San Luis Valley, died in Denver on Friday, March  19, at the age of 82 following a brief illness.

Nancy was born in Alamosa on September 6, 1938, to Tom and Clara McAden.  For many years, the McAdens operated a grocery store, gas station and regional bus stop on the main highway in Fort Garland. Nancy attended grade school and junior high school in Fort Garland and in nearby Blanca and graduated from Sierra Grande High School after schools in the area were consolidated.

After her family sold the Fort Garland store and moved to Alamosa, Nancy helped her Dad on his wholesale bread distribution route which took them throughout the San Luis Valley. She also worked at a bank in Alamosa and at local restaurants as a waitress.

Nancy married Bob Baker of Alamosa in August 1960.

Bob’s work as an employment counselor for the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment took them to Durango, Grand  Junction, Craig and Denver. They were parents to two children, Mike and Deb.

Over the years, Nancy, who never met a stranger, had a wide variety of jobs.  In Durango, she operated a home day-care center. After the Bakers moved to Denver in 1988,  Nancy worked as a guest greeter during Colorado Rockies games at Coors Field. She also worked at a convenience store and gas station. In later years, she was active in water aerobics and often played cards and games with friends.

Bob Baker died in 2014. Survivors include her daughter, Deb Yenerich, and her husband, Scott, of Eagle, and her son, Mike Baker and his wife, Marilyn, and their two daughters, Rebekah, and Elizabeth, of Knoxville,

Tennessee.  Preceding her in death were her parents; a brother, Tom McAden Jr., and a sister, Pat Burton.

No services are planned.