Eileen Baker

Beloved mother and grandmother, Eileen M. Gorman Clifford Baker, age 71 passed away July 5, 2023 after a months-long illness, with her daughter by her side. Eileen was born on September 9,1951 in Binghamton, New York, and lived in and around the area for most of her life.  She is predeceased by her parents Mike and Ann Gorman, and survived by her daughter Carolyn (Ted) Felton, son, Bernard Clifford, and her pride and joy, grandsons Andre Felton and Morgan Clifford.  She leaves behind sisters; Suzanne (Barry) Messina and Kathleen Gorman, brothers; Thomas (Joan) Gorman, Paul (Janet) Gorman and John Gorman.  Her family extends special thanks to Laura Horton-Clark, Christina Calkins and Randy Hall, who constantly visited, checked in, and helped care for mom these last 6 months of her life. Your time was a precious gift to her.

Eileen graduated from Vestal High School in 1969.  She worked for the State of NY for many years, getting her start by providing in-home care services while living in Owego when her children were small.  She started at Broome Developmental Center in the Food Services Department and became motivated to further her education. She finished her Bachelor's from Binghamton University and obtained her Masters in Social Work from Syracuse University. She was very proud to be able to buy and pay off herself, a 2 family home on the East Side of Binghamton, where she lived for nearly 20 years.  Eileen worked on several teams at BDC with special needs adults, always striving to do her best and treating both team members and clients with respect.

Friends fondly remember her as a bright-eyed angel, who was always a supportive listener who didn't pass judgement.  She loved to pull a prank and mess with people, but always in good fun.  Eileen loved to crochet, gifting hundreds of her treasured creations to anyone if she thought it would brighten their day.  She adored her cats, Lily and Gideon, who provided her with many years of companionship and will live out their days with her daughter's family on their farm.  She really liked to dress nice, get her hair and makeup done, go to flea markets and on long car rides with her dear friend Bob Hall.  She had a close-knit group of friends who spent holidays together and checked in with one another daily to make sure everyone was okay.  Eileen used to spend hours doing word searches and watching soap operas which she referred to as "her stories", and was well known for not scheduling anything and ignoring all calls while they were on. She was an avid donor to police organizations, animal shelters and was a proud Syracuse Alumni donor as well.  As a young girl...Eileen's first love was horses.  She showed in 4-H, trail rode all over Vestal, and was remembered by her sister as riding in the morning before school with curlers in her hair because she just couldn't wait until after school to go.

Eileen passed this love of horses on to her daughter, and even helped make her adult dream of having horses on her own property come true. She insisted that we had to build a barn so I could be ready when the right horse came along, and helped make it happen Eileen and her son Bernard shared a close relationship despite the fact that he lived in Arkansas, often spending hours a day on the phone talking about daily life.

We will miss your advice, your patience and support, but are glad you are no longer in pain.  I hope your are on your favorite horse, riding fast with the wind blowing in your hair.

We love you and will miss you Mom

"Gimme, Grammy, MiMi".

Funeral services will be held 12:00 pm, Wednesday, July 12, 2023 at the DeMunn Funeral Home, 36 Conklin Avenue, Binghamton. Family will receive friends from 10:00 am until the time of services. Interment will follow in South Owego Cemetery. To forward condolences please visit www.demunn.com.