On Aug. 26, 2024, Laura Baxter passed away surrounded by family at the Red Deer Hospice at the age of 69.

A memorial service will be held on September 14^th from 2pm-5pm at the Crossroads Agriculture Society Community Centre, 36366 Range Rd 252, Pine Lake, AB.

Laura was predeceased by her parents, Ted and Lucille Togstad and brother, Frank Togstad. Laura will be lovingly remembered by her husband Doug, son Nathan (Sky), daughter Anne (Jared), grandchildren Indigo, Freya and Rowan and the many other family members, friends, colleagues, students and community members whose lives she made brighter with her presence.

The family is sincerely grateful to the staff of the Red Deer Hospice Society for their care in Laura’s last weeks. Memorial donations may be made to the Red Deer Hospice Society, Canadian Cancer Society or a charity of your choice.

Laura Baxter was raised on a farm outside of Acme, Alberta with her brother Frank and parents Ted and Lucille, helping her family with both animal and grain farming. Laura remembered her childhood fondly, especially weekend get-togethers with cousins, yearly trips to the Stampede, and caring for pets – even making friends with a baby skunk once! Growing up on the farm also meant living humbly and working hard, with no running water or refrigeration until later years and plenty of chores to be done.

As Laura grew, she developed a passion for horseback riding, starting with her pony Chester and continuing in gymkhana competition with her horse Scout. She also loved playing piano and when she graduated high school pursued her degree in Education, double majoring in Music and Early Childhood Education. She met her future husband, Doug, at a dance in Crossfield, Alberta, and they quickly fell in love. Not long after, they decided to get married (giving their families two week’s notice when they announced their engagement) so they could build their life together.

Doug and Laura’s marriage was full of adventure and growth, living in Calgary as they both completed school, then the Acme farm, Olds and Red Deer before building their dream home near Pine Lake. During the building of their house, Laura found out she was expecting, living in a tent while at the same time teaching school as their home was completed. Son Nathan was born in May of 1981, followed by daughter Anne in November 1982. Doug and Laura found ways to budget so Laura could stay at home with the kids while they were young, with Laura teaching piano lessons and running a pre-school program at the Pine Lake Hub. After both children were in school, Laura returned to teaching and over the years taught many classes from kindergarten through upper elementary, as well as music and special education, spending the majority of her teaching career in Delburne.

Laura and Doug supported their kids in all endeavours, from encouragement through school, car rides to lessons, coaching and more. Almost every day was packed with family activity, and when it wasn’t, they busied themselves developing the home and acreage, playing ball with the Pine Lake Cannons and planning vacations. One highlight of this time was yearly back country trips with the horses to Tombstone Lake in Kananaskis country. The family also enjoyed yearly ski trips, family group camps and holidays. They hosted large Thanksgiving gatherings, which grew to summer weekend campouts over the years. Laura loved having family together and especially enjoyed sharing songs around the campfire.

For their 25th wedding anniversary, Doug and Laura planned a special vacation to Peru, hiking through Machu Picchu and visiting the Amazon River. This ignited a new love of travel and mountain climbing in them both and launched another 25 years of exploration. Laura loved reminiscing over the sights and adventures she had across the world: swimming with sea turtles through the Galapagos islands, riding horses along the silk road in China, motorcycling across New Zealand, repelling down caves in Bolivia, climbing Mount Kenya, hot air ballooning over the Egyptian Nile, skydiving over the Nevada desert, catching whopper fish off the B.C. coast and more.

Laura’s love for and connection with family continued as she was thrilled to become a gramma to Indigo, Freya and Rowan. She spent many hours crafting beautiful gifts for them to use and play with and was quick to set up and join in on activities whenever they visited. Laura never stopped enjoying learning new things, she took riding lessons when her daughter did and guitar lessons when her son did, she pursued painting, stained glass and crafting. Her cooking, gardening, organizing and sewing abilities seemed second nature, but looking back we see the effort that she put in continually improving throughout her life. Laura worked hard every day, but played harder. She achieved what she put her mind to, focused on the important things, and lived an incredible life. She was absolutely one-of-a-kind and will be deeply missed.

• Date : 2024-08-26
• Location : Eventide Funeral Home