Baker, Jessie Emma (Cumpston) Obituary

Baker, Jessie Emma (Cumpston) attended Elk Grove High School in Elk Grove, CA. View the obituary, post a memory, or share a photo about Baker, Jessie Emma (cumpston).

Graduation Year	Class of 1920
Date of Passing	Mar 22, 1990
About	Born in Eau Galle DU, Wisconsin on 15 AUG 1901 to Royal Frank Cumpston (1872-1936) and Ivah Vanderpool (1877-1970). Jessie Emma Cumpston married Lester Allen Baker (1900-1961) and had 2 children. She passed away on 22 Mar 1990 in Elk Grove, Sacramento, California, United States of America. The Jessie Baker Elementary school was named for EG Supergrad Jessie Cumpston Baker (EGHS grad - 1920). Here is a little about her: Jessie was the mother of a son with disabilities. She immersed herself in a statewide quest to find opportunities for her son’s education. Jessie devoted her life to improving the lives of children with special needs. What she accomplished was a major change and a revolution for educating children with mental and physical disabilities. Jessie grew up in what was then a rural area near the corner of today’s Bruceville Road and Laguna Boulevard. She recalled climbing the windmill frequently in the summer to look out for fires. The school in Elk Grove that bears her name, the Jessie Baker School, is a most remarkable school for when it opened in 1963 it was the first public school in California for children with severe disabilities. It was the perseverance of Jessie Baker and her ability to unite people into resolving issues related to disabled children that forever changed the way we look at special education in Elk Grove as well as in California. The Jessie Baker School continues to improve the lives of young people in multiple ways as it has done for the past half century. In recognition of her great achievements, Jessie Baker was named Elk Grove’s Citizen of the Year in 1965. - Elizabeth Pinkerton