Jean Baird

Jean Marie Hoer Baird, MA, (96) our beloved mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, and dear friend died on February 26, 2023, after a brief illness, at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. She was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. She met her husband to be, Charles W. Baird (deceased) at Hughes High School in Cincinnati. During WWII, Jean completed a BA at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Nursing, while Charles served in the Navy in the Pacific Theater. In June, 1948, they married and had two children: P. Deborah S. Baird, born in 1949, and Robert Miller Baird, born in 1953.

Jean supervised nursing services associated with several different universities, in different states, while Charles earned his PhD from the University of Iowa, in Iowa City, Iowa. In 1969, Charles became a Lecturer at Ohio University (OU), in Athens, Ohio. Jean completed an MA in Sociology at OU.

When the family moved to Youngstown, Ohio in 1969, Jean worked with the Regional Medical Program, the precursor to the federally funded Area Health Education Centers (AHECs), which supplied community-based education for thousands of health professionals. Charles, a published author, became a professor of English Literature at Youngstown State University, in Youngstown, Ohio. Unfortunately, he died a few short years later in August, 1974.

When Jean was the executive director of one of these AHEC centers, she joined the Northeastern Ohio Universities’ College of Medicine, (NEOUCOM), later renamed the Northeast Ohio Medical University, as project director for an AHEC program housed in the medical college. Jean started the AHEC Newsletter in 1982, which is still published, and received ongoing accreditation for Continuing Medical Education (CME) for the medical college. For successfully completing a telecommunications network, and other outstanding skills, Jean was awarded one of the college’s most prestigious awards, the Provost’s Award in 1989.

During her tenure at NEOUCOM, Jean received many promotions, and she retired from NEOUCOM on December 31, 1999 as Associate Dean for Regional Programs and Director of CME and the Area Health Education Center. In 2003, Jean moved to Portland, Oregon to be closer to her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

Jean was a runner, biker, golfer, European traveler, cross-country skier, snowshoe enthusiast and watercolor artist who shared these talents with her dear women friends. She was a lifelong generous donor to many community organizations.

Jean was predeceased by her husband, Charles W. Baird, PhD, and her parents, Lily Kathleen Hoer (Steward) and John Lester Hoer. Also by her brothers, Jimmy Hoer and John Lester "Jack" Haer. She will be buried in the Vine Street Hill Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio next to her husband. No memorial Service is planned at this time.

Jean will be dearly missed by her friends and family: P. Deborah S. Baird, PhD, and her wife, Nancy J. Noble, PhD of Columbus, Ohio; Robert M. Baird, MDiv., and his wife, Carol M. Baird, MD, of Welches, Oregon and their sons Matthew Baird, MBA, and wife, Alayna V. Baird, and their children Maya, and Ian of Portland, Oregon; son Carl Baird, DC, and wife Emilee Nehring, OD, and their daughter Mackenzie, Molalla, Oregon.