Therese D. Baker

Therese Baker

Therese D. Baker, née Duzinkiewicz, was born on 10 August 1948 in Creil, France and died on 1 December 2012 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Most recently she headed the Visual and Performing Arts Library (VPAL) at Western Kentucky University. Therese arrived in the States in 1954 with her parents, Halina and Zygmunt, and moved from New York City to Ft. Lauderdale, FL in 1962. She graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas High School with a tuition scholarship to Barry College where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts in 1970. Receiving her Masters in Library Science from Florida State University, Therese worked briefly at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and joined Western Kentucky Libraries in 1982. She loved the history of fashion, dance and music with the Art Nouveau period being her favorite. Though she valued her Polish heritage, Therese had a life-long fondness for Orientalism in Russian music. She is survived by her brother, Janusz Duzinkiewicz (Purdue University North Central), his partner, Daniel Krsak, their Polish Lowland Sheepdog, Czarka, and her own beloved cat, Shadow. Her last picture appears at: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8064/8229075609_497f22312f_b.jpg Therese’s most perceptive insight seems to have been “another person, another problem” yet she was devoted to family and friends and her life was one of service. The world has lost one of those quirky individuals who helps keep society functioning. She died in her easy chair at home from a heart attack while doing work brought home from the Library.