Dolores “Dodie” (Vinyard) BakerRushville, NY

Dolores “Dodie” (Vinyard) Baker, of Rushville, went to be with her Lord on December 27, 2025, after a brief illness.

Calling hours will be held on Friday, Jan. 2, from 4–7 p.m. at the Perkins-Ames Funeral Home, 2583 East Main St., Gorham, NY 14461. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Jan. 3, at 11 a.m. at the funeral home.

She was born December 19, 1957, in Berlin, New Hampshire, to Kenyon and Marie (Wiseman) Vinyard and grew up in the picturesque village of Stark, NH. She graduated from Groveton High School in 1975. Dodie operated a fabric store with her sister and worked in retail and the bar and restaurant industry for many years, managing a home decor store, The Brassworks, in Keene, NH.

She married Ted Baker on September 15, 1991, in West Milan, NH. She became a born-again Christian not long after and was active in her churches, running a caregiver support group at Crosswinds Wesleyan Church in Canandaigua.

The couple moved to the Finger Lakes in 2003 and bought their home in Rushville in 2004. Dodie became the Cubmaster of Pack 43 in Rushville and served as a camp counselor and activity leader at Camp Babcock-Hovey in Ovid, as well as Cub Round Table Commissioner for the Seneca Waterways District. She earned Scouting’s Wood Badge award.

In 2011, Dodie became the Director of the Mabel D. Blodgett Memorial Reading Center in Rushville, overseeing its state charter application to become a library and helping put plans in place for an expansion of the building. She began Christmastime in Rushville, an annual celebration that includes Santa’s arrival by fire truck and the lighting of the library Christmas tree. She was named Citizen of the Year by the Rushville Lions Club.

Dodie loved the Lord and loved the people of Rushville. She befriended those who needed it most. She loved her family, cooking, reading, gardening, music, and watching murder mysteries.

Dodie is survived by her husband Ted Baker of Rushville; children Caleb Baker of Rushville and Felix Baker of Geneva; brother Don Vinyard of Berlin, NH; sisters Diana Bourbeau of West Milan, NH, and Donna Hathaway of Milan, NH; and her beloved kitties Sunny and Merlin.