By Susan Bromley
Staff Writer
Ortonville- Stephanie Baskin’s life has included raising seven brothers and sisters, serving her country in the Navy and National Guard and running her own business in Alaska.
She will share stories and memorabilia from her 70 years of life at 10 a.m., March 16, at the Edna Burton Senior Center, 345 Ball St. The presentation is part of the ‘Share Your Life History? series.
Baskin has been through many moves and changes in her life, in which she has had many challenges.
She grew up in Bath, Maine and in 1944, when she was just 6-years-old, her father died of a heart attack. Her mother raised Baskin and three other children alone for four years, selling eggs and homemade jewelry to support them until she remarried in 1948 to a man who had three children. They also had a child together. Immediately after that baby was born, Baskin’s mother, sick with tuberculosis, was placed in a sanitarium where she remained for three years. Baskin’s stepgrandmother came to stay for a year, but when she left to return to Chicago, Baskin, 13, was left to care for her brothers and sisters until their mother returned.
In high school, Baskin was very involved in sports, playing basketball, volleyball, softball, ping pong, golf and also riding horses.
‘I was very physically fit and it sustained me to the present doing all that,? she says.
It also prepared her for joining the service. After she graduated high school in 1956, she worked at a hotel for the summer, then in December 1956, when she was old enough, she joined the U.S. Navy.
‘Back then, you had three choices,? she recalls. ‘You could marry your high school sweetheart, become a nurse or join the service to get training.?
Without a high school sweetheart or money to go to college, Baskin chose the third option, and decided upon the Navy over other military branches because ‘it appeared to be the easiest.?
At that time, a lot of women were joining the service, she said, and she had a female drill instructor. She got training in secretarial skills and ‘learned to keep her mouth shut.?
She spent two years in the Navy, most in San Francisco and met her first husband, a nice sailor named Robert Hays. When she became pregnant, she was discharged.
‘You couldn’t be pregnant and have kids while in the service then,? said Baskin. ‘I never wanted to leave, but they didn’t want me.?
Their first child was a son, Robert, and they would have two more children, Robin and Deborah, while living in Maine where Hays was stationed. Baskin worked as a receptionist there for five years, but separated from her husband in 1965 and moved to Massachusetts. In 1974, she moved to New Mexico and met Jack Baskin. They married in 1977 and had a son, Kevin. Jack was a National Park Service ranger and they moved on to Wyoming, with him working at Yellowstone until 1979, when they were informed that incoming President Ronald Reagan wouldn’t be funding Jack’s job. They got jobs in Maine and in 1980, Baskin joined the National Guard, which she was part of until 1987, when again, she said, she was let go because of a need for more active duty men.
They moved to Alaska in 1990, where Baskin landed another secretarial job. She was also a member of the Alaska Territorial Guard from 1995-99 and opened her own business, a gift shop called ‘Mrs. Lane’s Closet? in 1995, but closed it after Sept. 11. Her marriage with Jack was falling apart and they divorced, with her coming to Michigan in 2003 to be a nanny to her grandchildren.
‘I lost 40 pounds, dyed my hair and got a new man here at the senior center,? smiles Baskin, grandmother of nine. ‘Taking care of Bill is a full-time job.?
Baskin traveled throughout the 90s and has mementos from trips to Hong Kong, Hawaii, Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland.
So what has she learned in life?
‘I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut; life is short, don’t take anything for granted; you need to be a strong woman to live in Alaska and I wasn’t street-smart until I got to Michigan,? she says. ‘Most difficult was learning my mom made mistakes and the U.S. government makes mistakes even though I worked for them for 20 years… My goal was to get my kids through college and they all have graduated. At the end of every day, I say I did the best I could with what I had. I look myself in the mirror and say, ‘I did the best I could with the information I had.??