Grace Louise Baker Cates passed away peacefully November 23, 2024 at the Ida Emmerson Hospice House in Eureka at the age of 91. She was born August 27, 1933 in Broken Bow, Oklahoma to Aubrey and Alda Baker, the 6th of 7 children. She had successfully conquered lymphoma several times, undergoing treatment without much complaint. She had decided if it returned she would not seek any type of intervention and those wishes were fulfilled by the compassionate discharge planning staff at Providence St. Joseph Hospital and Hospice of Humboldt.

Grace often talked about her time as a child growing up in Oklahoma and some of the mischief she and her siblings got into. Once she told a story of she and her brothers being outside in a field by a wood pile. Her brothers asked her to hold an object (maybe a piece of wood?) over her head while they tried to shoot it. She didn’t mention what their weapon was, hopefully not a BB gun! Grace also reminisced about her mother baking fresh bread and biscuits. She said she could still remember how wonderful they smelled right out of the oven! She recalled going to church as a young girl and even though she hadn’t attended church for many years her faith was so important to her.

The Baker family moved west to southern California in the 1940 and after several moves to other places finally settled in Humboldt County. Grace began her education in Oklahoma and eventually graduated from Arcata High School in 1951.

Grace married Robert “Bob” Cates on May 25, 1953. They welcomed four children in the next several years, Sharon Louise, Brenda Sue, Robert Dale and Richard Lee. During the early years of their marriage they lived in Arcata, Willow Creek and finally settled in Eureka where they raised their family. Grace and Bob were married for nearly 37 years when he passed away on April 8, 1990.

Grace had several jobs throughout her life, the first as a young waitress at the Samoa Cookhouse. She was also a telephone operator in Arcata in the 1950s. She said she worried that she wouldn’t make the correct connection and also said that some people on the other end of the line could not always understand her quiet voice. it flustered her until she realized she couldn’t understand a lot of them either!

Bob owned and operated the Texaco station across from Chin’s on Broadway and then later on the corner of 4th and R streets in the mid 1970’s. Grace would show up every night just before closing time to get the readings off the gas pumps. She was almost always accompanied by her children, most of them appearing so shy they could barely speak. She probably told them to be on their best behavior, especially if anyone other than their father was there. Grace was later the bookkeeper for Finnegan and Nason Auto Supply in Henderson Center for many years until her retirement.

Family meant everything to Grace! She was a dedicated and loving daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and definitely a bit of a worrier when it came to the well-being of all those she cared about. She lost her father at an early age and lovingly cared for her mother until her death. She always, always thought of others before herself. She loved preparing Sunday dinners that she graciously shared with anyone who showed up. There was always plenty of delicious food, especially her fresh, homemade buns. She also enjoyed playing Skip-Bo and Aggravation with her mother and her sister Nell. It seems like the table was always set up for some sort of competitive game. Her children remember Sunday drives when they were young that often included a picnic lunch. Some of Grace’s favorite foods were good peanut brittle, Winco strawberry ice cream (yes, it absolutely had to be Winco brand for Grace!), lots of bananas but not too ripe, chocolate and Chinese food.

In later years, especially when Grace was no longer driving, she passed her time with daily phone calls and sometimes visit from family and friends, watching TV (she didn’t miss an episode of Days of Our Lives, she even learned how to stream it!) and tackling many, many word search books. She said she didn’t really like to read books much but thoroughly enjoyed her magazine subscription to Good Old Days. Lately though, she thought the stories in the magazine were too recent; not from the good old days she remembered. She also found some articles that caught her interest in the Humboldt Historian and really looked forward to the Thursday edition of the Times Standard that included the TV guide for the upcoming week.

As Grace’s health and ability to navigate on her own declined her family encouraged her to get an alert bracelet so she could easily contact someone if she fell, etc. Being a bit stubborn she would not even consider it. Much to the amazement of the firemen who came to help her up on more than one occasion, Grace had learned to talk to “Alexa”. Her newfound friend Alexa was able to do the work of the alert bracelet and was someone to talk to besides! She did not want anyone to fuss over her but was so happy when then did anyway. “Oh Hon, you didn’t have to do that!” was a familiar phrase from Grace.

Grace definitely had an opinion on most everything but didn’t always verbalize it. She was so very sweet and kind. She hardly, if ever, spoke harshly about anyone. The only person she had a hard time tolerating will be inaugurated as our president on January 20th for the second time. That would have been a depressing day for Grace and we are grateful God’s plan was that she didn’t have to be here to witness it. Grace, you can truly rest in peace now.

The last 10 days of Grace’s life were spent in the hospital and eventually the Hospice House. She was so very grateful to be surrounded by family and close friends and was most happy that her son Dale was able to be with her during that entire time. She was ready for her journey here to be over and to be reunited with all those who had gone before her.

Grace was predeceased by her parents, her husband Bob, her siblings, Aud, Nell, Elsie, Virginia, Alvin and Doris, her daughter Brenda, her son Rick and numerous nieces and nephews. She is survived by her daughter Sharon Rogers (Larry), son Robert Dale Cates, grandchildren, Jennifer, Phoebe, Adam, Matthew, Lori and Tyler as well as several great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

There will be no formal service for Grace. Please remember her by thinking of someone you know who lives alone. Make the time to call them and more importantly, if possible, take the time to visit them. Ask questions about their life and what matters. Or sit in silence together. Watch daytime TV together. Share laughter, some cookies and a smile. Make the time spent together meaningful to you both and know that your presence was priceless.

If you wish, kindly make a donation in Grace’s name to Hospice of Humboldt, 3327 Timber Fall Ct., Eureka, CA 95503.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Grace Cates’ loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.