Margie Moore Baker (1939 – 2025)

Margie Moore Baker passed away on July 10, 2025. Born in Dallas, Texas in 1939, Margie was a woman of extraordinary grace, intelligence, and quiet strength, deeply loved by her family and respected by those who knew her. She lived a full and beautiful life as a community leader, gardener, sportswoman, mathematician and friend.

She majored in mathematics at Rice University, where she thrived as a debater and cheerleader. Margie met Arthur G. Baker Jr. while working one summer in Maine, and they married in 1960. Margie and Art lived in Japan from 1966 to 1968 while Art served as an Army surgeon. They then made Swarthmore, Pennsylvania their home for 45 years and were devoted members of the community.

Margie was a groundbreaker who pursued her career with conviction. Early in her marriage, she worked as a programmer for RCA on the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System. In 1980, she returned to the workforce as a systems analyst at Pennwalt and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, retiring in 1996.

Margie was active in the Swarthmore Garden Club, the Scott Arboretum, and the Swarthmore Horticultural Society, for which she served as President and Treasurer. The gardens she and Art created at their Ogden Avenue home were featured in local tours, and their hillside vineyard produced wine for over two decades. Several public gardens she designed and planted still grace Swarthmore's downtown.

She was equally devoted to her town. Margie served on the Swarthmore Planning Commission, and helped beautify downtown Swarthmore with the Centennial Foundation. For many years she organized the town's New Year's Eve Luminaria Project benefitting the ABC House.

Her many friends knew her as a passionate social organizer. The annual Ogden Avenue caroling party was a neighborhood institution. She also developed a bi-weekly dinner group for working couples that grew to three chapters, a hundred members and lasted three decades.

At Lake Paupac Club in the Poconos Margie served on the board, including a term as President, and claimed numerous golf and tennis titles.

Margie's love of sport matched her love of community. She played tennis, paddle tennis (well into her 70s), and golf, competing in tournaments with Rolling Green Golf Club and enjoying bocce in later years.

She brought the same energy to White Horse Village, where she and Art moved in 2015, managing the Harvesters Gardens with characteristic care.

Margie is survived by her children, Arthur Deane Baker (Bonnie) of Lake Ariel, PA; Kathryn Moore Baker of Oslo, Norway; Andrew Davis Baker of New Orleans, LA; and four beloved granddaughters.

Margie's service will be held at 10 AM on Saturday, August 30th at Swarthmore Presbyterian Church, 727 Harvard Ave, Swarthmore, PA.

In Lieu of flowers, donations to the ABC House in Swarthmore are encouraged.

abcstrathhaven.org or send checks payable to ABC Strath Haven to PO Box 495, Swarthmore, PA 19081