Joanna Gentry Baldwin

August 11, 1932 - December 1, 2021

Joanna Gentry Baldwin, 89, passed away Wednesday, December 1, 2021, in Tyler, Texas. There will be a visitation on Sunday, December 5, from 4:00-6:00 p.m. at Stewart Family Funeral Home. Burial will be held at 10:00 am on Monday, December 6, 2021, at Rose Hill Cemetery in Tyler, followed by a memorial service at 11:00 a.m. at Southside Baptist Church with Pastor Mark Price officiating. Joanna was born August 11, 1932, in Tyler to Joseph Sayers Gentry and Octavia Jones Gentry and was a fourth generation resident of Smith County. She graduated from Tyler High School and attended Hockaday Junior College. She graduated cum laude from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority and Orange Jackets Honorary Service Organization. After graduation, she married Earnest Rowland Baldwin, Jr. She taught in the Galveston Public School System and Tyler High School from 1953 to 1957 and at Tyler Junior College from 1972 to 1973. Mrs. Baldwin served as deacon and coordinator of adult education at First Presbyterian Church in Tyler. Following that, she and her husband attended Green Acres Baptist Church where they assisted the pastor with teaching and helping volunteers prepare their testimonies for future mission trips. Then, as a member of Southside Baptist Church, Joanna taught ESL and Spanish for volunteers in mission work and other outreach ministries, including prayer ministry in the Baptist Student Center at Tyler Junior College. Answering the call to full-time Christian service, she and her husband were commissioned by the Baptist International Mission Board to serve in Guatemala from 1991-1995. There they assisted and took care of teams who came to build churches, to minister in bible studies, and to assist with medical needs of the community. They also taught ESL in churches and in the Guatemalan Baptist Seminary. Mrs. Baldwin was very active in the Tyler community. She was a member of the Mary Tyler Chapter of DAR, where she received an award for sponsoring Captain Samuel Mosby Chapter of CAR from 1969-1979. In addition, she was a member of the Charles G. Davenport Chapter of DRT, the First Literary Club, the Marion Wilcox Junior Garden Club and was a former member of the Tyler Junior League and the Women’s Symphony League. Her hobbies and interests included reading, playing tennis, traveling, and she had a great appreciation for music and art. Her joy in life was serving the Lord and enjoying her family and friends. Joanna was known as a gracious hostess, had a boundless sense of humor, was passionate about her love for people and found joy in her Christian faith. A church member wrote, “What a wonderful life of love, service, devotion, kindness, and faithfulness you have modeled.” Another friend wrote, “Thank you for being my friend...you love to laugh and it is so contagious.” Joanna is preceded in death by Rowland Baldwin, Jr., her husband of 54 years. She is survived by her loving family including daughter, Ellen Graham and husband, Greg of Amarillo, TX; son, Rowland Baldwin III, of Austin, TX; and relatives including Dianne McCrea of Horseshoe Bay, TX, George McCrea and wife, Jane of San Angelo, TX, Janie Binnion of Vero Beach, FL and Frances Gentry Lynch of Coral Gables, FL. Many thanks to caregivers Vera Pettigrew, Jenny Harmon, Hospice nurse Pam Dean and many thoughtful friends and helpers. Memorials may be made to Southside Baptist Church, 15330 FM 2493, Tyler, TX 75703, or to the charity of your choice.