Carmen Rose Hepworth Alumni Award - RaVenna Baker

RaVenna Leigh Baker of Cedar City has throughout her 94 years on this planet improved the lives of others and strengthened the University, which follows in purest form the example of Carmen Rose Hepworth, in whose name she was honored during the annual Thunderbird Awards.

Now 94 years of age, RaVenna was born and raised on 100 West, the daughter of William Henry Leigh, a prominent furniture merchant, hotelier, and a Cedar City mayor, and Ella Berry, who, by virtue of her year of completion—1900—and the alphabetization factor, was the very first graduate of this institution among the class of four.

RaVenna earned an associate degree from the Branch Agricultural College in 1941, and while here in the pre-war years, became interesting in flying and was the only woman among a class of 10 to earn her pilot’s license through a special college program. She was granted a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Utah two years later, then joined the Women Airforce Service Pilots, a paramilitary group whose members performed a variety of stateside duties during World War II, as male pilots served overseas. More than 25,000 women applied to join the group, but only 1,074 earned their wings as WASPs.

RaVenna and her sister pilots flew operational flights from aircraft factories to ports of embarkation and military training bases. They also towed targets for live anti-aircraft artillery practice, simulated strafing missions, and transported cargo. Women in these roles flew almost every type of aircraft flown by the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. All members were replaced when males began returning from wartime duties, but it was not until 1977 that the members were granted veteran status.

RaVenna married Al Fisher in 1947 and the couple had three sons and a daughter before Al’s death in 1962. RaVenna then married Harry Baker of Champaign, Illinois, and the couple later took up residence back in Cedar City in 1987, moving into a small home next to her childhood residence. Harry was active in the Masons in town and was crucial in the construction of the local Masonic Lodge. Ravenna, for her part, long served as an officer in the auxiliary organization of the Freemasons, the Order of the Eastern Star.

She cultivated her love of the University over the years and became a loyal and dedicated alumnus, relishing all manner of activities, and has loved attending events ranging from plays and concerts to homecoming festivities. Also, she was an integral member of the Cedar City Rotary Veteran’s Park World War II Monument Committee.

Continuing throughout her life to help others, she joined her husband in water aerobics and taught classes for their fellow senior citizens. Harry passed away in 1999, but RaVenna continued in that teaching pursuit until about a year ago, at the age of 93.