Shirlee Jeanne Baker

Shirlee Jeanne Baker, age 65, passed away in her home in the early morning hours of Sunday April 28, 2024. She won her first fight with breast cancer in 2020, but when it came back over these last few months, it proved to be too aggressive to overcome, but she didn’t go without a steadfast fight.

Shirlee was an absolute force of a woman. Those that knew her knew that she was unapologetically herself. She would never dream of changing to suit someone else’s expectations. She was happiest spending time at home with her beloved husband on their 10-acre slice of heaven in Butman Township.

Shirlee grew up in Allen Park, but after her parents bought property in Gladwin in the 1950’s, Shirlee always had the plan to settle there with her family. Once she bought her own property there, she went on to raise her four children there, and has continued making new memories there, from marrying her husband, to hosting every Christmas Eve get-together, and everything in between.

Shirlee spent the majority of her career working at the public transits for Gladwin and Ogemaw counties, first driving, then dispatching.

For several years while she was driving, she would regularly attend bus rodeos and often placed in the top three drivers for small bus in the entire state of Michigan, and then went on to participate at the national level.

Shirlee could be looked at as an example for how to enjoy life. She loved the yearly family camping trip to Trout Lake, where she would spend quality time with her kids and grandkids. She also loved rides on the side-by-side, pontoon boat, or kayaks. And she’d also be known to take the sporadic casino trip on a whim with her husband, just for a fun weekend getaway. She regularly made post-retirement plans that included traveling and spending more time with her grandkids, but her life was cut entirely too short and there wasn’t enough time since her retirement only began in February 2024. While her family struggles to process how quickly she was brought to her end, she would always handle bad days or situations by saying if we didn’t have bad days, then we’d never be able to appreciate the good days. This is a bad day for Shirlee’s family, but oh how we will cherish the good days we had with her, now more than ever.

Shirlee is survived by her husband, Andrew Baker of Gladwin; brothers: Craig Fitzsimmons of Gladwin, Michael Wettstein of Clifford, David Wettstein of Sequim, WA; sister, Gayle Beagle of Sandusky; her four children: Melanie Hrabovszky of Gladwin, Katie (Jason) MacInnes of Gladwin, Dustin (Jennifer) Kerrins of Gladwin, Cassandra (David) Martin of Traverse City, and Andrew’s two children: Andy (Lauren Bain) Baker of Coleman, and Jon (Bre) Baker of Midland; along with 14 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

She is preceded in death by her mother, Marjorie Fitzsimmons; her father, Guy Fitzsimmons; and her brother, Rick Fitzsimmons.

Arrangements include a Celebration of Life Ceremony to be held at the Butman Township Hall in Gladwin, MI on Saturday, May 11, 2024, beginning at 12 p.m. with programming beginning at 1 p.m.

Shirlee loved flowers and gardening, so flowers and plants would gladly be accepted and can be brought to the Butman township hall on May 11, 2024 or sent to the home of Shirlee and Andrew.