Joycina Day Baker, Friendswood author and historian, has been named the 2011 Honorary Alumna for the FHS Alumni Association.
        She and five Distinguished Alumni will be honored at a reception this Friday night at Friendswood High School at 702 Greenbriar in Friendswood.
            A native of Wichita, Kansas, Baker has been a Texan by choice since 1949, when she married her husband, James M. Baker, (Jim) a third generation Friendswoodian. Her interest in family and community history was piqued when she married into the Quaker family.
            Baker earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from Friends University, Wichita, Kansas.  She and her husband have since resided in Friendswood where they reared their family -- Mark, Dayla, Wes, and Matt. 
            She has been active in the Friends Church and community, and for thirty years (1952-1982) felt the pulse of the community through their family business --Bakers--  the hometown grocery store. During the years 1954-1966  (before the advent of a newspaper) she and her husband published a weekly community news and grocery ad sheet that was posted to every mailbox.
            From 1988 to 2002 her energies were directed to her employment as an active substitute teacher at Cline and Westwood elementary schools, a challenge she thoroughly enjoyed.  She also became involved with the Friendswood Historical Society where she has spent over 20 years researching, recording and presenting Friendswood's unique history as the only extant town in Texas that was founded as a Quaker Settlement.   She has served the same number of years on the Galveston County Historical Commission, appointed to that position by the County Judge.
            For the City's Centennial in 1995 she researched and authored the book Friendswood--A  Settlement of Friendly Folks.  She researched and authored the applications for three State Historical Markers-- for the Fig Industry (in Stevenson Park), a Recorded Historic Landmark award for the Cecil Brown Home (now the Alton Todd office,) and the Texas Historic Cemetery Marker at the Friends Church. Baker and her husband Jim, (deceased 2005) using the proceeds from the sale of the book, provided the ideas and much of the labor for a complete renovation of the Frank Brown Heritage Museum, including the addition of an outhouse and an authentic barn to the grounds.
            She has participated in the annual tours provided for all the third grade classes, and  she initiated the Trunk Lady traveling history lessons enjoyed by FISD’s second graders.
            She continues to be requested as a speaker on Friendswood history not only locally, but to organizations in surrounding areas.
            The other alumni to be named 2011 Distinguished include Tanna Bennett, Chris Henchy, Lisa Camp, Kim Reed and Carol Brown Cline Vaughn. The six will also be recognized at the Havana Blues gala Feb. 12 at Hotel ZaZa. The gala, sponsored by the Friendswood ISD Education Foundation is the organization’s main fundraiser. Proceeds from the event will go toward grants and initiatives impacting all students in FISD.