1927
Tom
2018
Tom Bailey, Sr.
January 30, 1927 — October 27, 2018
Tom Bailey, Sr.
Thomas Herbert “Tom” Bailey, 91, died Saturday, October 27, 2018, after a full life as a loving son, brother, husband, father and friend. He collapsed and died following an apparent heart attack as he approached Davis Wade Stadium to watch a Mississippi State University football game. He was born January 30, 1927 to George Samuel Bailey and Lula Christine Farley Bailey.
Mr. Bailey grew up in rural Webster County on a small farm that has remained in the Bailey family since the late 1800s. He attended Mississippi State and served in the Army after World War II.
In 1950, he met and married the love of his life, Lila Holley Bailey. He called her "Pud" and was affectionately called "Herb" by his family.
He started a career with the Bell Telephone Company that spanned more than 40 years. His work took him and his family up and down Mississippi, from Jackson to Aberdeen to Biloxi and finally to Tupelo. He retired in 1991 as North Mississippi district manager for the company’s commercial division.
By then he was rooted in Tupelo, where he served as a civic leader in the 1960s, '70s and '80s. He served as the Community Development Foundation president, received the Boy Scouts’ Silver Beaver Award, chaired the Lee County Library board, was an active Rotarian and served as president of the Tupelo Country Club.
For years, as a service to North Mississippi’s telephone customers, the company displayed in large type his home number near the front of the telephone book. Calls came at all hours from disgruntled customers, often complaining that a neighbor was eavesdropping on the party line.
Mr. Bailey loved playing golf and post-round gin rummy, traveling in retirement across the nation, especially out West, with Pud in their Suburban, attending Mississippi State athletic events, meeting friends for a regular coffee klatch at the old TKE Drugstore in downtown Tupelo, dining at the old Rex Plaza, watching "The Godfather" and "Seinfeld," hosting cocktail parties with Pud, keeping the speedometer exactly on 59 mph on the 50 mph-limit Natchez Trace, attending the Memorial Day family reunions, reading Time magazine, the Daily Journal and Commercial Appeal, watching the 5:30 p.m. news, taking an annual spring golf trip with his buddies to Mobile, and dressing well in the Preppy style.
He was a prolific reader and his love of reading nearly killed him. In late April of 2014, as the rest of Tupelo heard the tornado sirens and took cover, he sat in his bedroom chair, his head buried in a book. He read until a towering pine crashed through the roof, breaking his back and destroying their home.
He was a lifelong student of history and especially admired Churchill.
He was such a confident amateur plumber and electrician that he would often tweak the repair jobs completed at his home by licensed professionals.
He revered craftsmanship, especially in carpentry. He built decks, picnic tables, shelves, lawn chairs and other items to his exacting standards. He loved order; every tool had a specific home in his tool shed.
Survivors include his children, Chris Bailey and her husband, Steve Thompson of Corvallis, Oregon and Tom Bailey, Jr. and his wife, Mary Powers of Memphis, Tennessee; grandchildren, John Thompson of Denver, Colorado, George Thompson of Minneapolis, Minnesota and Anne Greenlee and her husband, Mark, Zac Powers Bailey and Stephanie Powers Bailey, all of Memphis, Tennessee; great-grandchildren, Lila Greenlee, Chloe King and Wyatt King and two brothers, Jack Bailey of San Antonio, Texas and George "Sonny" Bailey of West Point.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Lila Holley Bailey; parents, George and Christine Bailey; granddaughter, Hannah Claire Bailey; sister, Martha Atkins; and two brothers, Joe Bailey and Ralph Bailey.
Visitation will be 10 a.m. until service time Saturday November 3, 2018 at First Presbyterian Church, Tupelo.
Services will be 11 a.m. Saturday November 3, 2018 at First Presbyterian Church, Tupelo with Dr. Ron Richardson officiating. Interment will follow at First Presbyterian Church Columbarium. W. E. Pegues Funeral Directors is in charge of the arrangements.
Memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church, 400 W Jefferson Street, Tupelo, MS 38804.
Expressions of sympathy may be left at www.peguesfuneralhome.com .
Thomas Herbert “Tom” Bailey, 91, died Saturday, October 27, 2018, after a full life as a loving son, brother, husband, father and friend. He collapsed and died following an apparent heart attack as he approached Davis Wade Stadium to watch a Mississippi State University football game. He was born January 30, 1927 to George Samuel Bailey and Lula Christine Farley Bailey.
Mr. Bailey grew up in rural Webster County on a small farm that has remained in the Bailey family since the late 1800s. He attended Mississippi State and served in the Army after World War II.
In 1950, he met and married the love of his life, Lila Holley Bailey. He called her "Pud" and was affectionately called "Herb" by his family.
He started a career with the Bell Telephone Company that spanned more than 40 years. His work took him and his family up and down Mississippi, from Jackson to Aberdeen to Biloxi and finally to Tupelo. He retired in 1991 as North Mississippi district manager for the company’s commercial division.
By then he was rooted in Tupelo, where he served as a civic leader in the 1960s, '70s and '80s. He served as the Community Development Foundation president, received the Boy Scouts’ Silver Beaver Award, chaired the Lee County Library board, was an active Rotarian and served as president of the Tupelo Country Club.
For years, as a service to North Mississippi’s telephone customers, the company displayed in large type his home number near the front of the telephone book. Calls came at all hours from disgruntled customers, often complaining that a neighbor was eavesdropping on the party line.
Mr. Bailey loved playing golf and post-round gin rummy, traveling in retirement across the nation, especially out West, with Pud in their Suburban, attending Mississippi State athletic events, meeting friends for a regular coffee klatch at the old TKE Drugstore in downtown Tupelo, dining at the old Rex Plaza, watching "The Godfather" and "Seinfeld," hosting cocktail parties with Pud, keeping the speedometer exactly on 59 mph on the 50 mph-limit Natchez Trace, attending the Memorial Day family reunions, reading Time magazine, the Daily Journal and Commercial Appeal, watching the 5:30 p.m. news, taking an annual spring golf trip with his buddies to Mobile, and dressing well in the Preppy style.
He was a prolific reader and his love of reading nearly killed him. In late April of 2014, as the rest of Tupelo heard the tornado sirens and took cover, he sat in his bedroom chair, his head buried in a book. He read until a towering pine crashed through the roof, breaking his back and destroying their home.
He was a lifelong student of history and especially admired Churchill.
He was such a confident amateur plumber and electrician that he would often tweak the repair jobs completed at his home by licensed professionals.
He revered craftsmanship, especially in carpentry. He built decks, picnic tables, shelves, lawn chairs and other items to his exacting standards. He loved order; every tool had a specific home in his tool shed.
Survivors include his children, Chris Bailey and her husband, Steve Thompson of Corvallis, Oregon and Tom Bailey, Jr. and his wife, Mary Powers of Memphis, Tennessee; grandchildren, John Thompson of Denver, Colorado, George Thompson of Minneapolis, Minnesota and Anne Greenlee and her husband, Mark, Zac Powers Bailey and Stephanie Powers Bailey, all of Memphis, Tennessee; great-grandchildren, Lila Greenlee, Chloe King and Wyatt King and two brothers, Jack Bailey of San Antonio, Texas and George "Sonny" Bailey of West Point.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Lila Holley Bailey; parents, George and Christine Bailey; granddaughter, Hannah Claire Bailey; sister, Martha Atkins; and two brothers, Joe Bailey and Ralph Bailey.
Visitation will be 10 a.m. until service time Saturday November 3, 2018 at First Presbyterian Church, Tupelo.
Services will be 11 a.m. Saturday November 3, 2018 at First Presbyterian Church, Tupelo with Dr. Ron Richardson officiating. Interment will follow at First Presbyterian Church Columbarium. W. E. Pegues Funeral Directors is in charge of the arrangements.
Memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church, 400 W Jefferson Street, Tupelo, MS 38804.
Expressions of sympathy may be left at www.peguesfuneralhome.com .
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Tom Bailey, Sr., please visit our flower store.
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