Loving Mom, Grandma, Sister, Teacher, Healer, Friend, age 78, passed away at home November 5, 2024, after a one-month battle with leukemia, surrounded with love by Kagobe, Nzinga, Malaika, Jakobe and Zephaniah. She was born August 9, 1946 in southern Ontario, Canada, the 5th of 15 children, and grew up on farms in Manitoba, North Dakota, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Minnesota.

Naomi got her BA at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and later earned her MA in education from Hamline University.

Courageous and adventurous, Naomi moved to Tanzania in the early 1970s, where she taught math at an international school, embraced the culture, became fluent in Swahili, and had her two beloved children with partner, Dr. Sheri Taki. In the early 1980s, she returned to Minnesota and continued her teaching career at St. Paul Central High School teaching math and Swahili, impacting students across the city.

After retiring in 2009, Naomi began a new chapter in massage and energy healing. Meditation and her morning Dunn Brothers coffee group were a daily ritual, along with fitness classes at the YMCA and neighborhood running groups. Naomi loved choral music and was afront row fixture at so many local music and arts ensembles. She was an extraordinary and nurturing host, her home a warm and welcoming place for all, especially her children, grandchildren and their friends.

Naomi was preceded in death by her parents, Allan and Edna; and siblings Miriam, James (Renee), Myrtle, Mark, Luke (Leslie), and double cousin Mary Irwin. She is survived by her son Kagobe Baer-Taki, his partner Alicia Pratt and former daughter-in-law Martha (Kibwana) Baer-Taki, and grandson Jakobe Moses Baer-Taki; and her daughter Nzinga Aida Baer- Taki, and granddaughter, Malaika Jehlani Naomi Gayles. Naomi will also be deeply missed by the rest of her large and loving family: her siblings, Ruth, Moses (Connie), (Reida), (Laura), Zenas, Amon (Camille), Amos (Christel), Joel (Jadee), Jona (Alicia), Elam (Janis Clay), Eden (Cecile); nephew, Zephaniah (Dana) and children Leah, Zephaniah and Maya; and a host of cousins, double cousins, nieces, nephews, grand nieces, grandnephews, and her beloved Tanzanian family, niece Lela Baghdella, her daughter Zanele Chiza and children Nina Aida & Vivian, friend Christine “Tina” Kasiga, daughters Kalunde, Emma and Mindi, and their husbands and children.

A celebration of life will be held on November 16, 2024, at White Bear Unitarian Universalist Church in Mahtomedi at 1:00 pm, visitation one hour prior. In lieu of flowers, please send memorials to Naomi’s church, White Bear Unitarian Universalist, the American Cancer Society, or the Cantus Vocal Ensemble. Please share stories and memories of Naomi, and watch for a link to attend the memorial service remotely, on her Caring Bridge site.