Lucy Baxter Ham dies at 90

Lucy Baxter Ham

Lucy Baxter Ham, a resident of Southampton for 64 years, died on September 15 at her home on Herrick Road. She was 90.

Born December 11, 1919, in Ashburn, Georgia, a small town in the southern part of the state, she was the fourth of the five children of James Hubert Baxter, the local physician, and Anna Stevens Baxter. After attending public schools in Ashburn, she matriculated at the University of Georgia in Athens, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1941. At the University of Georgia, she was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, president of the university’s chapter of Mortar Board, a national honor society, and an officer of her sorority, Chi Omega.

After graduation, she worked as a youth activities advisor before leaving Georgia to pursue a two-year graduate program in counseling at Syracuse University, where she lived as head resident in a dormitory. After graduating from Syracuse with a Master of Arts degree in 1944, she returned to Georgia and worked at a YWCA United Service Organization office in Augusta until the end of World War II.

While at Augusta, she met her future husband, Stephen L. Ham Jr. of Southampton, who was serving in the U.S. Army and stationed nearby. They were married in Ashburn in 1946 and moved to Southampton later that year. Before the birth of her first child in late 1947, she was employed as a social worker by the Suffolk County Welfare Department.

While her children were growing up, she was a homemaker and occasional substitute teacher. She also worked briefly as dean of women at Southampton College when it opened in 1963. When her son left for college in 1967, she took a full-time job at Southampton High School as a counselor in the guidance department. She retired as a counselor in 1983 when her husband became ill and required full-time care.

Following the death of her husband several years later, she performed volunteer work on the South Fork, primarily for East End Hospice. She also traveled regularly with her sister and later with her son, daughter-in-law and grandson.

In addition to her participation in professional guidance counseling organizations during her career, she was a longtime member of the First Presbyterian Church of Southampton, where she taught Sunday School and served as an elder. An avid golfer, she was also a member of the Southampton Golf Club for more than 50 years.

She is survived by her son, Stephen L. Ham III and his wife Barbara of Southampton; a grandson, Stephen L. Ham IV, also of Southampton; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband in 1988 and by her daughter, Karen Ham Hotchkiss, in 1982.

Visitation was held at Brockett Funeral Home on Monday, September 20. A funeral service conducted by Rev. Richard Boyer was held at the First Presbyterian Church of Southampton on Tuesday, September 21, followed by burial at Southampton Cemetery.