On July 29th, William Delavon “Bill” Baxter died peacefully at his home at age 89 years after a short battle with Leukemia.
Bill was born in Larned, Kansas on September 13, 1936 to Bernice and Wayne Baxter. After spending his childhood in Larned and several cities in Oklahoma including Tulsa, Enid and Oklahoma City, he graduated from Larned High School before attending college at Phillips University where he met the love of his life, Sharon Lee Roberds. The two were wed in 1959 at the University Chapel on Sharon’s graduation day. Their marriage lasted 67 years ending on March 12th of this year with the death of Sharon.
Their union, which produced three children, was filled with love, service and adventure.
After graduation from Phillips University, the family moved to Lawrence, Kansas, where Bill attended Kansas University for graduate studies in cellular Biology. The time there resulted in their transformation into passionate KU Jayhawks fans. In 1966, Bill was awarded a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology and moved to Bowling Green, Ohio to become an Assistant Professor of Biology at Bowling Green State University (BGSU). He remained on the faculty there for 30 years.
Dr. Baxter was a popular and enthusiastic teacher. His introductory course in cellular biology was required for students who were pursuing any medical professional degrees, in addition to those majoring in Biological Sciences. From 1972-1975, he developed and directed a Science Cluster College for approximately 60 non-science-major students. A self-directed lab project allowed these students to develop and test hypotheses related to their interests. Bill also developed a Senior seminar on Bioethics where students were challenged to identify and evaluate ethical issues such as genetic engineering. In 1980, he published a widely used Cell Biology laboratory guide and text that integrated basic lab experiments with a primer of current information about cellular construction and function.
In later years, Bill became much more involved in administration of the College of Arts and Sciences, a division of the university that consisted of over 10,000 students and nearly 30 departments. In 1992, he was promoted to Associate Dean focusing on Student Affairs and Departmental curricula.
Bill’s favorite leisure activities were amateur theater, fishing, Trivia, volunteering and travel. His amateur theatrics activities included producing and directing over 20 shows while living in Bowling Green; Our Town in Tullahoma and The Diary of Anne Frank in Manchester. He also partnered with Sharon to present the popular two-person show Love Letters over 30 times for audiences in Tennessee and Northern Ohio. Many of these performances were sponsored by libraries as a fund-raising activity.
A family trip to Mexico ignited a passion to learn more about that country and it’s history. Numerous trips to the Yucatan permitted Bill to grow his understanding of the Maya culture and their ancient cities. He and Sharon visited most of the major Maya sites in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras; they later led groups on tours of these sites. They also found time to travel widely around the world, visiting over 40 countries.
Life-long membership in the First Christian Church was an important focus for Bill. He was active in all aspects of church life including serving in Church governance, singing in the choir and volunteering for church and community activities.
Bill is survived by his children, Cynthia Baxter-Diggles and her husband Patrick Diggles of Gorham, Maine; Brett Baxter and his wife Candy of St. Augustine, Florida; and Brice Baxter and his wife Rhonda of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He is also survived by six grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.
A Celebration of Life will be held at First Christian Church, 120 Grundy Street, Tullahoma, Tennessee on Sunday, August 2nd with visitation at 1pm and services at 2pm. Cremains will be placed at Rose Hill Memorial Gardens in Tullahoma.
Memorial donations may be sent to First Christian Church at the above address, or to Alzheimer’s Tennessee at PO Box 1373, Tullahoma, Tennessee 37388.
Watson Funeral Home & Memorial Park, 405 Sharp Springs Road, Winchester, TN 37398, 931-967-2345, www.watsonfhtn.com
