Violet Baldwin, 102, of Canterbury Woods, died on Monday, July 14, 2008 at her home.

Violet was born in Bowie, Texas on July 8, 1906 to Alvin R. and Wilhelmina Schaefer.

The family later moved to San Antonio where Violet attended Main Avenue High School and graduated at the age of 16. She graduated from the University of Texas and went on to Cumberland University Law School in Lebanon, Tennessee. After graduation, she passed her law exams and became one of the first three women to be admitted to the State Bar of Texas.

Violet later moved to California where she met and married Carvel Baldwin, a banker with Pasadena Citizen's Trust & Savings.

When he retired in 1964, they moved to Carmel and enjoyed being active in community affairs.
She was a volunteer at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula from 1978 to 2002 where she racked up a whopping 10,000 hours.
She served at the reception desk, the blood center, and both the Short Stay Unit and Intensive Care.
She also volunteered at the Monterey Bay Aquarium where she contributed more than 1,700 hours over a span of 15 years.
Over the course of the years, Violet has also volunteered at the Red Cross Blood Bank, spent years in Washington as a government aide, read books to the blind, been a member of the Women's Auxiliary at St. John's Episcopal Church and knitted for Navy wives. Vi's excellence at caning chairs is legendary in the Monterey area.

Vi was preceded in death by her parents, a brother and her husband.

She is survived by her nephew, Chris Schaefer of Houston, Texas.

Memorial Services are scheduled for July 22, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. at Canterbury Woods, Pacific Grove, CA.

Published in the Monterey Herald on 7/17/2008