Mary (Bowman) Bailey

Burnsville, NC – Mary Bowman Bailey, 92, died peacefully at her home on Friday, May 29, 2020, after several months of declining health.

She was born in Huntington, West (By God) Virginia in 1928 where she lived until her marriage.

She was preceded by her parents; Haller Gerard Bowman and Mary Novella Bowman; a beloved aunt, Gertrude Womble; a brother, Haller Womble (Bo) Bowman; a sister, Hilda Young; a son-in-law, Elak (Buster) Williams, and her husband, Garret Dixon (Dick) Bailey. As with her good friend, Doris Hunter, she chose “to cherish” rather than “to obey” in her wedding vows and enjoyed a marriage of over fifty years.

Mary is survived by her son, Joseph Todd, and her daughter, Mary Elizabeth Williams (Ken Jolly), sisters-in-law, Lucy Gardner and Gwen Kilpatrick, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Over the years Mary enjoyed tennis, bridge, cooking, and always, reading. A woman of faith, she belonged to Fifth Avenue Baptist Church in Huntington and then First Baptist Church in Burnsville, bridging American Baptist and Southern Baptist traditions.

Her children appreciate the workers at Hospice of Yancey County and especially the loving and dedicated care-givers (her “six girls”) who tended to her for the past several months. In lieu of flowers, donations to First Baptist Church of Burnsville or Hospice of Yancey County are welcome. In the coming days, the family will find an appropriate memorial observance.

Holcombe Brothers Funeral Home is respectfully serving the Bailey Family.

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