Deborah Bowie still remembers huddling in the back of the Gainesville Chamber of Commerce meeting room, swapping stories with Betty Baker like they had known each other for a lifetime.
Truthfully, the pair had just met, but their friendship was instantaneous. Baker had that effect on people, Bowie said.
“The interesting thing about Betty is that every person you meet will say that she was their mentor,” Bowie said. “Everyone was so connected to her.”
To honor the former Alachua County Manager, the city of Gainesville and the LifeSouth Community Blood Center hosted a blood drive Tuesday at City Hall.
She hopes to make the blood drive an annual event. Nine people participated in this year’s drive, said Danielle Dodge, a LifeSouth mobile team supervisor.
Baker made those all throughout the community, whether she was helping the homeless, organizing blood drives or serving on community boards, Bowie said. Now after her passing, her friends and colleagues are working to keep her legacy of public service alive.
Baker died in June at the age of 69 after battling cancer, Dodge said. She had a long career in local government, starting as the county administrative director in 2002 and eventually being promoted to county manager in 2013.
She was both the first female and the first African American to hold this position, according to an Alachua County newsletter.
Despite the time they spent swapping stories, Baker kept the struggles of her life private, Bowie said. At Baker’s funeral, Bowie learned she had been a single parent, who was putting her children through school while tackling rigorous training herself to pursue a career in city government.
“We wanted to offer people the opportunity to make a donation in the name of someone like Baker, who was the epitome of public service,” she said.
Danielle Dodge used to work alongside Baker during Gainesville blood drives. She remembers how passionate Baker was about getting people to donate blood, so she felt that organizing a blood drive in her honor would do her memory justice, she said.
“I feel like Betty is still helping us save lives even though she’s gone,” she said.
