Phyllis M. (Ghidoni) Baker

 It is with great sadness that the children of Phyllis M (Ghidoni) Baker announce her passing on Tuesday, September 2, 2025 at Sullivan County Health Care in Unity, NH.  She had lived in her home in Goshen for 70 years before mobility and other health issues forced her into the nursing home 2½  years ago.

 Phyllis was born (1931) and raised in Plymouth, MA, the second daughter of five children to Armando and Mary Ghidoni, first generation Italian-American parents.  Life was not easy growing up in the depression years, but Mom always had plenty of stories to tell of biking or walking with friends, going sledding on a steep town road or perhaps skating on a back-woods pond - all of this without constant parental supervision, everyone looked out for each other, it was a safe time and place.  As mom got a bit older, she took a job as a clerk at Malaguti Brothers Construction, a stone’s throw from where she grew up, where she was with many of her uncles, aunts, and cousins.

 She learned how to tend a woodstove, how to raise vegetables and do all sorts of canning and preserves (yum, yum !), along with how to care for pigs, cows, and assorted other critters.  It was a tough life but it was what was needed in order to survive and care for a growing family.  As time allowed, mom grew beautiful flower gardens, it seemed like more and more every year.  She was artistic and made many decorative and wearable items for her home and family,

 In 1961, Phyllis was appointed Town Clerk and Tax Collector for Goshen, positions she held through re-election until she retired in 1998, more than three decades of service.  This was one of her service callings for her town, and because it was an in-home office (no town office building back then) she could keep an eye on the children, do a load of laundry, be in the gardens or yard, and still be available for residents who needed to conduct town business.  Along with those positions, she did dog registrations and a few years later, because there was a need, she became a notary public and then a few years later a Justice of the Peace (yes she conducted weddings at the house).  As dad became more and more active in the fire department (over 50 years of dedicated service), mom would be one of the ones to answer the phone for a fire call and then would call the required number of men for the situation at hand.  

Phyllis is predeceased by her husband of 65 years, Edwin; her sister, Dolores; her brother, John; as well as by her brother Donald and his wife Judith.  She is survived by her brother Robert and his wife Jean; by sister-in-law Rosalie-wife of her deceased brother John; and sister-in-law Doris-sister of her late husband Edwin- and her husband John; along with many nieces, nephews, and cousins.  Phyllis’s children include Nancy, husband John, granddaughter Kristen, great grandchildren Taylor and Ryan; Richard; and Susan, husband William, granddaughters Dana and Lauren. 

Calling hours will be Saturday, September 13th at the Newton-Bartlett Funeral Home, 42 Main Street, Newport, NH, from 11 am to 1 pm to be immediately followed by a brief memorial service.

In lieu of flowers, we ask that you consider making a donation to the Olive G. Pettis Memorial Library, PO Box 57, Goshen, NH  03752.

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