Anne Lamborn Baker

Anne Lamborn Baker died in Topeka, Kansas, on March 7, 2025, several weeks after being diagnosed with a brain tumor and celebrating her 87th birthday.

Anne was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, on February 24, 1938, to Richard and Marion Johnson Brumbaugh Lamborn. When she was 15 years old, she met her husband, Frederick Clark Baker, whom she married in 1960.

She attended Academy High School until the 11th grade, then skipped her senior year to enroll in Connecticut College for Women. There, Anne was one of four members of the science club and went on to graduate cum laude in 1959 with a bachelor’s degree in physics and was inducted as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

One of her most significant memories from that time was a group conversation with the college’s president, Rosemary Park, in her home in the winter of 1959. The president encouraged the young women to seek meaningful endeavors made possible by their liberal arts education. Anne embraced that message and went on to excel in multiple professions.

Her first career was as a physicist conducting high-energy physics research at the University of Pennsylvania and Brookhaven National Laboratory. She was especially proud of her name appearing on research papers published in Physical Review, a premier peer-reviewed scientific journal.

Anne paused her physics career to marry Fred and start their family. They had three children and lived in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Illinois before moving in 1976 to Topeka, Kansas, for Fred’s work as a pathologist. Anne attended law school at Washburn University, earning her juris doctor and graduating summa cum laude in 1979.

She began her legal career as a clerk for Justice Robert Miller at the Kansas Supreme Court. In September 1980, she joined the law firm Eidson, Lewis, Porter & Haynes as an associate and was named a partner in 1986. In 1989, she joined Davis, Wright, Unrein, Hummer and McCallister as a partner. She was listed in the 2001 Best Lawyers in America guide and was the first woman in Kansas to be rated by her peers a “V,” meaning that she had “Very High” ethical standards, in the national attorney directory Martindale Hubbell. A highlight of her legal career was representing the Topeka School District in the final phase of the Brown v. Board of Education case in the 1980s and 1990s, where it was ultimately found to be in compliance with the 1954 Supreme Court ruling.

Anne retired from private practice in 2005 and began her third career, working as a senior law clerk for her longtime friend and law partner Dale Somers, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Kansas. She continued to work in this role until her diagnosis, in mid-February.

Outside of work, Anne led a full and robust life. She raised her three children and now has two granddaughters who are following in her footsteps. Madeline Sarah Saffer graduated from the University of Vermont Honors College last May and was also inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. Lillian Elizabeth Saffer is in her sophomore year at Connecticut College and is expressing interest in becoming a lawyer.

Anne was also a loyal friend, always ready to selflessly help those in need of support. A member of the First Presbyterian Church of Topeka, she served as an Elder, Deacon, and member of the finance committee. Through the Big Brothers Big Sisters, she mentored and supported her “little sister” from age 10 through adulthood. She supported dozens of community organizations and nonprofits financially over the years, including First Presbyterian Church, Connecticut College, Washburn University Law School, Topeka Symphony, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Meals on Wheels, YMCA, Let’s Help, and local public radio and TV stations.

Her hobbies included fly-fishing, traveling the world, summering in Michigan, reading with her book clubs, and watching KU basketball.

Anne was predeceased by her husband, parents, and two brothers, James Douglas Lamborn and Richard Brumbaugh Lamborn. She is survived by her three children, David Fredrick Baker, Cynthia Anne Baker, and Karen Elizabeth Baker (Saffer); two grandchildren, Maddy and Lily; and one nephew, Jeffrey Allen Herman Lamborn.

Services will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12, at First Presbyterian Church of Topeka, 817 SW Harrison Street. The family will greet friends following the service between 2:00 and 3:30 in the church’s Disciples Hall, adjacent to the sanctuary.

Donations in Anne’s memory may be made to the local PBS television station, KTWU: https://ktwu.org/donate/ or Kansas Public Radio: https://support.kansaspublicradio.org/

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