Anytrea Baker served up heaping portions of smiles and encouragement along with her school cafeteria meals.
In a decade with the Minneapolis Public Schools as an onsite food service coordinator, she reveled in her role as an upbeat "lunch lady" who sought to be a friend and trusted adult.
"She totally embodied why we are here," said Omar Guevara-Soto, assistant director of the school system's food services. "Nurturing all through access to food."
Baker died Dec. 10 after a severe asthma attack. She was 45.
Most of Baker's career was spent at Bethune Community School in north Minneapolis, where she became known to multitudes of elementary school students as "Ms. A," a less-formal nickname that was easier to say than her first name, pronounced uh-NEE-tree-ah.
When the coronavirus pandemic closed schools in March, Baker began handing out boxed meals for Minneapolis families, standing for hours outside Bethune through the crisp days of spring, the heat of summer and the bluster of winter.
"It wasn't just, 'Pick up your box,' " Guevara-Soto said. "It was personalized service. She would know the families. She would know the kids by name. She took time to make sure they felt cared for and that she hadn't forgotten them."
Baker was the youngest of four children and a lifelong resident of north Minneapolis. After graduating from Patrick Henry High School, she set off for Texas College, about 90 minutes east of Dallas in the city of Tyler. It was her first experience in the South, and she returned to Minnesota after a semester. She briefly studied art, but it was food and people that held the most sway.
