Kenneth Poe Funeral Services

April 8, 2025

CHARLOTTE – Peggy Phillips Baird, 92, of Charlotte, NC died Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at home surrounded by her family.  She was born on September 17, 1932, in East Bend, Yadkin County, North Carolina to Kermitt Orvall Phillips and Inez Doub Phillips.

The family moved to Charlotte in 1936.  Peggy attended Charlotte City Schools – Glenwood Elementary and Harry P. Harding High School, graduating in 1950.  She continued her education at Queens College (now University) and graduated in 1954 with a Bachelor of Science in Music Education.

In the summer of 1950, Peggy met the love of her life, Calvin B. Baird, Jr., known familiarly as Bun.  They were married June 19, 1954, at Belk Chapel on the Queens campus and moved to Norfolk, VA while Bun served in the United States Navy.  While there, Peggy taught music in three elementary schools and sang in the choir at the local Presbyterian Church.

In January 1956, they moved back to Charlotte and started their family.  Peggy joined Sardis Presbyterian Church where Bun’s family had been members for seven generations and joined the Sanctuary Choir.  She played handbells for 25 years there and retired from the choir after 57 years.  Peggy also served as Deacon and Elder and for 17 years as Chair of the Historical Committee, in addition to work on various other committees and with Women of the Church. She chaired the Praying Hands Prayer Shawl Ministry for 15 years.  Peggy and Bun participated in two Sardis mission trips to Kenya.

Music and singing were important parts of her life.  She studied voice at Queens College and when they returned to Charlotte, she joined the Oratorio Singers of Charlotte and sang with that group for 30 years.  Peggy studied private voice for 12 years and was thrilled to be selected by audition as the soprano soloist with the Oratorio Singers and the Charlotte Symphony in performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony around 1970.  Additionally, she performed with a small group of singers from the Oratorio Singers who performed a variety of concerts around the community to promote the Oratorio Singers, served as a member of the Oratorio Guild, and sang and modeled in the Guild Fashion Show.  She was also a member of the Good Fellows Chorus for 40 years.

Peggy had many hobbies in addition to her work raising four children and managing their household.  For more than 30 years, she raised Eastern Black Swallowtail and Monarch butterflies.  She loved handwork (knitting, crocheting, cross stitching), cooking, and sewing (making her own and her daughters’ clothes, window treatments for their home, and even her own wedding dress).

Peggy and Bun enjoyed family activities including annual camping vacations and trips together round the US, Europe, and Kenya.  They enjoyed gatherings with family and friends at their beach house at Caswell Beach, NC and later their house on the waterway near Southport, NC.   In 2014, Calvin and Peggy moved to a cottage at Sharon Towers.

Peggy is survived by her daughters, Dr. Sara Lynn Baird and partner, Laurelie Gheesling of Florence, AL, Patricia Baird Isley and husband, Patrick of Cary, NC and Susan Baird Davis of Charlotte, NC; son, Dr. Philip Baird of Florence, AL; nephews, David Bowling and wife, Hollie, Edwin Phillips, Jr. and Chris Phillips and wife, Melissa and niece, Marianne Bowling Bowman and husband James, and their children Abbey and Austin.  Also surviving are her sisters-in-law, Penny Phillips and Nancy Baird Bowling and husband, Tom.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, April 12, 2025, at Sardis Presbyterian Church, 6100 Sardis Rd., Charlotte, NC with the Reverend Joe B. Martin presiding.   A reception will follow the service in the Education Hall.

Peggy will be remembered for her extraordinary dedication and love for her family, her love for music and Sardis Presbyterian Church, her extraordinary service, and excellence in every undertaking.  She will be greatly missed but lovingly remembered.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be offered in memory of Peggy to Levine and Dickson Hospice House at Southminster, 8919 Park Road, Charlotte, NC 28210 or online at https://www.viagiving.org/one-time-giving.

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Ave., Charlotte, NC 28204; (704) 641-7606.  Online condolences may be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.