Beatrice Baxter, a dedicated secondary school chemistry teacher in Ilford, Essex, and a laboratory assistant during World War II who contributed to the development of improved gas masks, has died at the age of 102.
Early Life and Education
Born at the City of London maternity hospital to William Fox, an accountant, and his wife Dora (née Austin), a seamstress, Beatrice was a true cockney, born within earshot of Bow bells. She was a brilliant student at the Skinners' Company's school for girls in north London, leaving at 16 just before the war began.
War Efforts
During WWII, she worked as a milk tester with Co-op Dairies before moving to Imperial College London as a laboratory assistant. There, she helped Dutch expatriate scientists develop better gas masks, earning her a medal from the Netherlands government. She also qualified as a first aider and tended to bombing raid victims.
Academic and Teaching Career
After the war, she earned a degree in general science (1948) and a chemistry degree (1950) from Sir John Cass Technical Institute. She married Herbert Baxter, a fellow chemist, in 1950. Following teacher training at Brentwood College of Education, she taught at Gearies boys' school in Ilford and later at Ethel Davis, a community special school for disabled children, where she adeptly helped pupils in wheelchairs or with cerebral palsy conduct experiments. She retired in 1983.
Later Life and Legacy
She assisted Herbert in producing reference books on chemistry, handling word processing and molecular diagrams. An armchair astronomer and keen knitter, she was predeceased by her husband Herbert (2010) and son Laurence. She is survived by children Gillian and another son, and four grandsons.
