PORTSMOUTH - Mary Jeannette Baker Hibbitts of 4300 Duke Dr., Portsmouth, Virginia, 23703, died Friday, April 4th at Mayfair House after a long and cruel struggle with Alzheimer's disease and COPD complications.

Mrs. Hibbitts was born in Nashville, Tennessee on May 7, 1933 to Jeannette Kirtland and David Hume Baker. Educated at Parmer School, Ward Belmont Preparatory School and Vanderbilt University, she married Louis Hankins Hibbitts, Jr. in 1953. After a number of years in Nashville, the two lived successively in Louisville, Kentucky and St. Louis, Missouri, before moving to Hampton Roads, Virginia in 1983.

Starting as a young "Candy Striper" volunteer at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Mrs. Hibbitts began a long and distinguished career of over 40 years as a Red Cross volunteer and staff member. Joining the Red Cross Blood Program in Louisville, Kentucky in 1972 as a blood donor recruiter, she later served in a similar capacity in St. Louis, Missouri, before coming to Hampton Roads where she worked variously as a recruiter, Assistant Director and then Director of Donor Resources for the Mid- Atlantic Regional Red Cross Blood Program.

After retiring, Mrs. Hibbitts was an active member of the Board of Directors of London House, a retirement facility in Portsmouth, and was instrumental in arranging the transition of that facility to its present use by Edmarc Hospice for Children, one of the region's most outstanding charitable medical institutions.

In addition to her husband, Mrs. Hibbitts is survived and her memory cherished by two sons: David Archer Hibbitts, of Portsmouth, Virginia, and James Kirtland Hibbitts of Charlotte, North Carolina, two granddaughters: Sarah Lenoir and Margaret Price Hibbitts both of Charlotte, North Carolina and a grandson, Daniel Gardner Hibbitts who predeceased her.

The family has requested that any memorials be made to: The Alzheimer's Association, The American Red Cross, Trinity Episcopal Church or Edmarc Hospice for Children.

A memorial service commemorating the life of Mary Jeannette Baker Hibbitts will be held at Trinity Episcopal Church, Portsmouth, Virginia, at a later date. Condolences may be registered at bwfosterfuneralhome.com