Lilian “Lii” Baxter (née Kaju) lived a beautiful life of profound generosity, lifelong learning, and unwavering service to others. She was a force of nature, with a vibrant spirit and an endless well of energy that she poured into her family, her community, and her faith. Lii passed away peacefully following complications from cancer, leaving behind a legacy of great love, practical care, and deep faith in Jesus.

She first met her beloved husband, Robert (Bob) Baxter, in the summer of 1966 on a cottage country road in Oro Township when she was 14 and he was 17. They grew up together and went on to share fifty-five years of devoted marriage. Lii anchored their family, loving everyone so well. She was the proud mother of Krista (Erik) and Annie (Paul), and the cherished grandmother of Liia, Miles, Stella, and Emerson.

Whatever she did, Lii did it wholeheartedly. Some of her absolute happiest moments were spent at the cottage on Lake Catchacoma, surrounded by good friends and neighbours, with her children and all her grandchildren together in one place.

When Bob and Lii were first married, she earned her geography degree at the University of Western Ontario. After starting a family and volunteering with Greenpeace and Amnesty International, Lii returned to school when her daughters were in elementary school. She earned a nursing degree from the University of Toronto, graduating fourth in her class, and began a career in community health.

She became a Christian later in life, and her desire to serve Jesus became a central motivation for everything she did. She combined her passion and expertise to serve as a global health coordinator for Emmanuel International, a role that allowed her to serve communities around the world, including deeply meaningful time spent in Uganda and Malawi together with her daughters.

At age 50, ever determined to expand her knowledge and skills, she returned to U of T to become a Nurse Practitioner. She served at CAMH before spending more than a decade at the Rexdale Community Health Centre, providing dedicated care to many new immigrant and refugee families; her patients affectionately called her "Dr. Lii."

Lii was incredibly generous with her time, talent, and resources, always seeking to change lives for the better. When needs arose within her family, she readily stepped back from her career to meet them; she devoted time to lovingly supporting her own mother, and she and Bob moved in with his parents to ensure their comfort and care until their passing.

Like her mother before her, she loved to sing and was honoured to be a founding member of the Tyndale Community Choir. She also loved to garden, and she possessed a practical nature that always found purpose and value in the world around her. In recent years, she devoted significant time and energy to volunteering with the Canadian Nurses Christian Fellowship, hosting meetings in her home and forming meaningful friendships.

She took immense pride in her Estonian heritage, maintaining a deep bond to her roots and fulfilling a wish to return to her parents' homeland once more in the summer of 2025.

When she faced a diagnosis of metastatic cancer in December 2025, Lii met her treatments with the same profound resilience, strength, patience, and faith that defined her life.

Lii was predeceased by her parents, Helme and Eduard; her parents-in-law, Geraldine and Maurell; and her brother-in-law, John. She is survived by her loving husband, daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren, as well as her brother Peter (Ellen), brother-in-law Craig (Silvia), sister-in-law Barbara, and a wide circle of extended family and dear friends whose lives she touched so deeply.

Her family is deeply grateful for the excellent and compassionate care Lii received from Dr. Jenna Bocher and the amazing staff at North York General Hospital.

A funeral will be held at York Cemetery on Friday June 19, 2026 at 11am. The service will be live-streamed. Please click on the link above after 10:30 a.m. during the second visitation to view the funeral service. The recording will be available as of June 21st under the media tab above. Please see all visitation and funeral information available below.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Nurses Christian Fellowship Canada or the North York General Hospital Foundation.