March 18, 1983 – April 15, 2025
Caryl Kathleen Baker, age 42, died of natural causes on April 15, 2025, at her home in Lafayette, Colorado.
She was born on March 18, 1983, in Statesboro, Georgia, to Kathleen and Lawrence Smith.
She is survived by her husband of almost twenty years, Scott Baker, and their beloved cat, Wedge; her parents, Lawrence and Kathleen Smith; her in-laws, Greg and Susan Baker; her sister, Jenica Nasworthy (Brian); brother-in-law, Alan Baker (Tiffany); and sister-in-law, Kristin Andrews (Mark); and nieces and nephews Louis and Agnes Nasworthy, Jackson and Logan Baker, and Emma Andrews.
She loved to laugh and ducked attention, and would have likely rolled her eyes at this obituary. What she wanted to do was talk to you about movies and TV shows, particularly in the Marvel or Star Wars universes, music, or college football and her beloved Georgia Bulldogs.
She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2005 and married Scott that same summer. In 2011, they moved to Lafayette, where she enjoyed the beautiful outdoors, the cool dry air, and spotting wildlife. Caryl had eagle eyes, and delighted in pointing out a far-off mountain goat or hawk before anyone else. She and Scott were true partners and each other’s best friend, and enjoyed the life and home they made together in Colorado.
They took on everything together, whether the minutiae of grocery store runs and household tasks or momentous trips to Prague, Italy, San Francisco, and concerts around the area. Despite the miles between them, Caryl stayed close to her family, joining Smiths and Bakers for family trips to Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, New York City, Estes Park, Georgia, Finland, and Maine.
Caryl knew what she liked and met life on her terms. She always joked about wanting to be a trophy wife, but instead reluctantly achieved her way into a very successful career in wealth management at Robert W. Baird and Co. in Boulder, where she was appreciated for her invaluable breadth of knowledge as well as her incomparable wit.
A local memorial is planned for Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Boulder.
A celebration of life will be held on a future date in Georgia.
Donations may be made to the Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue in Caryl’s memory: https://www.rmfr-colorado.org/donate.
Crist Mortuary & Cremation and Mountain View Memorial Park is in charge of arrangements.