Our dear friend and bright light, Tiffani Baker passed away August 8, 2023, in Castle Dale, Utah at the age of 54. Tiffani was born in 1969 in Salt Lake City. She grew up in Orangeville, Utah, the daughter of George and Judi Baker and the only sister of Ryan, Matthew and Kelly Baker. She graduated from Emery High School in 1987 where she loved participating in theatre, chorus and playing the saxophone in marching band and jazz band. She worked as a nanny in New York and served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Florida. She earned an Associate of Science in Anthropology from the College of Eastern Utah and a Bachelor of Science in History Education from Utah State University.
Tiffany loved her community and was an active member, serving on many committees and participating in many groups. She served as the Emery County Democratic Chair, the Land Use Committee Secretary, a member of the Emery County Tourism Board, Vice Chair of the Emery County Democrats and others. She also assisted her lifelong friend, Neal Peacock, in his community history courses and loved participating in these classes.
With her trademark laugh and good nature, levity was a guarantee any time Tiff was around. She loved blasting pop music, playing practical jokes, writing stories, drawing, watching ridiculous British Sitcoms, and she made having fun a full-time job.
Tiff was a voracious reader and a lifelong learner. She was interested in everything but particularly loved to study history, paleontology, geology, anthropology and astronomy. A consummate desert rat and a third generation rockhound, she explored the sandy cliffs and vast deserts of Emery County and beyond in a big straw sun hat, rock hammer in hand, with family and friends. If rocks were currency, Tiffani would have been extremely wealthy, always in possession of a new collection of geodes, fossils, arrowheads or crystals.
She worked for a time at the Prehistoric Museum in Price, Utah and later found her true calling as the Museum Manager at the Museum of the San Rafael in Castle Dale, Utah where she served for nearly 10 years. She excelled in this role and was passionate about her work. An incredibly competent museum director, she did a great deal of research, exhibit design, hosted many events and was a skilled grant writer. She managed many employees and became lifelong friends with each of them. She planned and launched the museum’s annual EMCO Paranormal Con, a brilliant fundraising effort for the museum and she looked forward to this each year. Of all her roles in the museum, guiding tours and meeting new people was her favorite.
Among all her titles, her most important and widely used was “Aunt Tiff.” Biologically, she has eight nieces and nephews, whom she loved immensely, but she was called “Aunt Tiff” by dozens of children that knew her. If you were to question the validity of her aunthood to any of these children, they would tell you in no uncertain terms that it was not up for discussion. She loved them all so well and was constantly checking on them, buying them gifts and making them feel special.
Tiff loved animals and was a devoted pet parent to her dogs Chrissy and Niles and her cats Harley and Jasper. Many of her pets were rescues, including Jasper, who has special needs.
She had an innate gift for connecting with others, whether online or in person. In simplest terms, she was an avid collector of rocks and friends. Tiffani’s tribe is large and loves her fiercely. She was a devoted friend to so many, always looking out for others and so often giving her last dollar to those in need. Her charity was constant, unending and given without hesitation.
Like the fossils she lovingly collected, Tiffani has left an indelible mark on each of us that time cannot erase. She will be missed profoundly.
Tiffani is survived by her siblings, Ryan and Layna Baker of Orangeville, Matthew and Briell Baker of Lake Oswego, Oregon, and Kelly and Tatum Baker of Spanish Fork. Her nieces and nephews: Sarah Jane and Alex Fish of Glendale, Arizona, Coleton Baker of Orangeville, and Paiton and Asher Baker of Spanish Fork, and her great nieces and nephew: Mara, Jared, Tatum and Elise Fish of Glendale, Arizona. Also survived by many aunts, uncles, cousins and dear friends. She was preceded in death by her father George Floyd Baker, and her mother Judith Smith Baker, and her grandparents Sarah Jane and Forrest Smith and Bess and Floyd Baker.
Services will be held Saturday, August 19 at the Castle Dale LDS Stake Center at 35 E Main Street, Castle Dale, Utah. There will not be a viewing; however, family will receive guests in the main foyer from 10:30-10:55 AM. The memorial service will begin at 11:00 AM. The family would like to thank the Relief Society for their compassionate service and the community of Emery County and all of Tiffani’s tribe for their outpouring of love and service.