Joseph Quincy Baxter III

IN  LOVING  MEMORY  OF

Joseph Quincy Baxter III

December 6, 1937 — August 13, 2016

GRAVESIDE  SERVICE

Thursday, August 18, 2016 at 1:00 p.m.

New Auburn Cemetery

1040 Collins Drive, Auburn, California

SURVIVING  RELATIVES

Wife:  Kathleen M. Baxter

Son:  James Joseph Baxter

Brother:  Frank E. Baxter

Brother:  E. Micah Baxter

Sister:  Jane Ann Baxter

Sister:  Genevieve Elaine Dunn

Sister:  Mary Elizabeth Baxter-Simmons

MISS  ME,  BUT  LET  ME  GO

When I come to the end of the road

And the sun has set for me,

I want no rites in a gloom filled room –

Why cry for a soul set free?

Miss me a little but not too long,

And not with your heads bowed low.

Remember the love that we once shared –

Miss me, but let me go.

For this is a journey, that we all must take –

And each must go alone.

It’s all a part, of God’s precious plan –

A step on the road to home.

So when you are lonely and sick at heart,

Go to your family and friends,

And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds –

Miss me, but let me go.

OBITUARY

Joseph Quincy Baxter III passed from this earth on Saturday, August 13, 2016 in Fresno, California.  Joe retired from  his career with the United States Navy with the rank of Chief Petty Officer in 1974.  After his military service, he began a new career at Proteus Vocational Training Program in Fresno, where he taught diesel mechanics skills.  His third and final career ended in retirement from Kubota Tractor Corporation USA as the Western Regional Manufacturers Representative.  Joe lived in Fresno for 42 years, but was a descendant of the pioneer Baxter Family of the town of Baxter, California in the Sierra Nevada and the historic Baxter Ranch on Baxter Grade Road in Auburn, California.  Nine generations of his family have lived in California since the Gold Rush.  Joe was part of the 3rd generation born here.  His great grandfather, the first Joseph Quincy Baxter, came from Quincy, Massachusetts which his family founded in 1630.  He shared ancestry with Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams.  The first Joseph Quincy arrived in California in 1850 to look for gold.  He settled in Clarksville, Eldorado County where he worked as a butcher.  He met his wife, Jane Ann Pedler, of Pedler Hill near Placerville, who had come by wagon from Wisconsin with her parents and grandmother.  In 1865 Joseph Quincy I moved to Alta and began raising  cattle and established Baxter's Camp.  It later became the town of Baxter that served travelers on old Highway 40 or the Lincoln Highway.  The Ranch on Baxter Grade Road in Auburn served as his winter pasture.  The cattle were driven on horseback between the two properties.  Joe the III was born in Auburn in December 1937.  He was a partner in the Baxter Ranch Auburn which still operates today.  He was proud to be the bearer of the Joseph Quincy Baxter name and has passed it on to his nephew and grand nephew.  To date, five Joseph Quincy Baxters have lived in California.  Joe leaves his loving wife of over 51 years, Kathleen Mary Wharff Baxter and a son, James Joseph Baxter, five siblings, Frank Baxter (Kathy), Mike Baxter, Jane Baxter, Genevieve Dunn (Joel), and Mary Baxter-Simmons (Rod), many nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, great, great nieces and a great, great nephew.  Graveside service with Military Honors at The New Auburn Cemetery, 1040 Collins Drive, Auburn, California 95603 at 1:00 pm on Thursday, August 18, 2016.

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