By Karen Andrew
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Baxter

ANDERSON TOWNSHIP - Belinda Baxter's many talents included the ability to get up in front of people and make them laugh.

While still in high school, she worked at old Coney Island as an age and weight guesser. If she didn't guess correctly, the contestant won a prize. She could be heard all over the park on the public address system, attracting people to her booth.

"She'd have crowds of people laughing," said her husband, Joseph L. Bauer, who was also her high school boyfriend.

Ms. Baxter died of cancer Thursday at VistaCare Hospice in Mount Washington. The Anderson Township resident was 49.

She was born in 1953 in Frankfort to Robert and Margaret Hatchett Baxter and graduated from Withrow High School in 1971.

Ms. Baxter graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1975 with a bachelor's degree in English and communications and began her career at TV Guide magazine, downtown, as the regional marketing director.

She joined Procter & Gamble Co. in 1982 as a public relations supervisor before becoming a brand media spokeswoman and a speech communications adviser for executives.

In 1983, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and recovered to counsel breast cancer patients.

Ms. Baxter began working at WLWT (Channel 5) in 1987 as an account executive. In 1992, she started her own business, Baxter and Associates, a media training and public speaking consulting firm. That same year, she and Mr. Bauer married.

After earning a master's degree in communication arts from UC in 1996, Ms. Baxter taught speech communications and public speaking at UC. She ran workshops to help professionals develop effective speaking skills.

In the mid-1990s, Ms. Baxter was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

"Belinda was an amazing person. She gave 1,000 percent," Mr. Bauer said. "But she was so down to earth and everybody loved her. She wanted everybody to live life to the fullness."

Ms. Baxter held leadership positions in the Cincinnati Business and Professional Women's Organization; Women in Communications Inc. and Cincinnati Ad Club.

Ms. Baxter served on the boards of the Cincinnati Center for Developmental Disabilities and the Lyons YMCA. In 1991, she was chosen the Communicator of the Year by the Cincinnati chapter of Women in Communications Inc.

She was a community volunteer and an active member of the Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church

In addition to her husband, survivors include a son, Ryan Douglas Welsh of Anderson Township; a daughter, Rita Rebecca Baxter Bauer, at home;; two stepsons, Anthony Bauer of Anderson Township and Doug Bauer of Colorado; a stepdaughter, Jessica Bauer, also of Colorado; her father, Robert Baxter of Mount Washington; and a sister, Venita Baxter Bond of New Richmond.

She was preceded in death by her mother and a brother, Glenn.

Visitation will take place 6-9 p.m. Monday at T.P. White and Sons Funeral Home, 2050 Beechmont Ave., Mount Washington. Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Hyde Park Community Methodist Church, 1345 Grace Ave., Hyde Park. Memorials: VistaCare Hospice Home Care, 8135 Beechmont Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45255-6138 or American Cancer Society, 11117 Kenwood Road, Cincinnati, OH 45242-1817.

E-mail kandrew@enquirer.com