MARY JEAN RARIG nee Hallitt (Baker), born in Flint, Michigan, on March 15, 1926, passed away Friday, October 1, 2010, aged 84. She was the daughter of Chauncey F. and Claribel E. Hallitt nee Judson, wife of (the late) Prof. Lloyd Rarig, and widow of Frederick M. Baker. Surviving her are sons David Stewart Baker and Frederick M. Baker Jr. (Irene Taylor Baker), and three grandchildren, Jessica Taylor Pavone (William), Jordan Taylor Snead (Keith) and Steven Baker. A talented musician, she studied at Interlochen, where she was broadcast performing the Saint Saens piano Concerto in C minor with Percy Grainger. After her brief marriage to Frederick ended with his death in 1951, in Burbank, California, she resumed her study of Spanish literature and language at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She then returned to Flint, where she taught at the Atherton Schools until her marriage to Lloyd in 1958, when the new family moved to Port Huron. She taught Spanish at Port Huron High School until 1963, when Lloyd accepted a teaching position at Ferris. The family moved to Big Rapids, where she taught Spanish and English at Big Rapids High School until her retirement in 1985. During her years at Big Rapids High School, she organized and accompanied over a dozen groups of students to Spain to attend summer courses at the Universidad de Salamanca, where, after many summers of study, she obtained her Master's Degree in Spanish language and literature. A lifelong musician, she was mistress of several instruments. In addition to piano, she played recorder in the Port Huron and Big Rapids recorder ensembles; bass viol in the Flint, Saginaw, and International Symphony Orchestras; and "cello in the Big Rapids Orchestra, of which she was a founding member, and with which she performed for 40 seasons, until she was obliged by infirmity to withdraw from it last year. She was a member and officer of the Friends of the Library, with which she worked throughout her retirement years to advance the cause of literacy. She performed volunteer work as a Spanish translator for local human services agencies and was acknowledged by the State Bar of Michigan for her work in translating brochures outlining the legal rights of the citizens of Michigan, and, in particular, for her work on the state prisons manual distributed to Hispanic prisoners. She loved languages (she was fluent in Spanish and German, conversant in French, and read Latin easily), and her remarkable memory equipped her for a lifelong study of history, especially English and Spanish history, and enabled her to write corrections in the margins of the many books she read. She was also an avid quilter and belonged to a local quilting society, which brought her into contact with quilters overseas, especially in England, where she twice visited the quilting circle of one of her overseas correspondents. On the weekend before her passing, she presented to her granddaughter Jordan a quilt she had made for the great grandchild she hoped to live until December to see. She was quietly generous to friends in need, as those who were the objects of that generosity know. That she was a loving mother and grandmother, her family shall never forget. A memorial service will be held on Sunday, October 10, 2010, at 3 p.m., at the Daggett-Gilbert Funeral Home, where members of the family will receive friends at 2 p.m. before the service. Her dear friend and fellow former Big Rapids High School teacher, the Rev. Andrew Jackson, will officiate. Donations in her memory may be made to the Friends of the Big Rapids Library, 426 South Michigan Avenue, Big Rapids, MI 49307; or to the Big Rapids Orchestra, 1030 Campus Drive, Big Rapids, MI 49307.