Nelda Frances Bailey

Mrs. Nelda Frances Comer Bailey, age 92, formerly of Columbus, died Saturday, March 17, 2018 at her son’s home in Starkville. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Memorial Gunter Peel Funeral Home & Crematory, 2nd Avenue North location. Visitation will be Wednesday, March 21, 2018 at 10:00 AM at Wesley United Methodist Church, followed by the funeral at 11:00 AM with Rev. Sarah Windham, Dr. Prentiss M. Gordon, Sr. and Rev. Edward E. Woodall, Jr. officiating. Interment will follow in Lloyd Cemetery in Calhoun County, MS.

The daughter of the late Archie Harmon and Lillie Holcomb Comer, Mrs. Bailey was born January 1, 1926 in the Peppertown community of Itawamba County, MS. She attended Wood Jr. College in Mathiston, MS and graduated with a B.A. degree in Education from the University of Southern Mississippi. She received a M.A. degree in Education from Mississippi University for Women and did post graduate work at Wesley College in Bristol, England, A resident of Columbus since 1971, she was a longtime member of Wesley United Methodist Church, as the wife of one of its’ ministers in the 1970’s Rev. James Leo Bailey. She was also very active in the United Methodist Women on the local as well as the state level. She was employed as a 4th and 5th grade teacher by the Columbus Municipal School District and was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma Sorority. She was also a member of several garden clubs and active in the March of Dimes. In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her four brothers Lansford, Frank C., Thomas S. and Joseph H. Comer and her husband Rev. James L. Bailey.

She is survived by her son Rev. James L. “Jamie “Bailey, Jr. of Starkville, MS.

Pallbearers will be Bob Simmons, Dr. Robin Campassi, Mike Comer, Rev. Curtis Bray, Max Cullum, Dr. Billy Watson and Richard Babb. Honorary pallbearers will be James Gable, Bobby Ward and Dr. Ben Sanford.

Her son would like to especially thank North MS Home Health Agency nurses Preston Coates and Sherrie Upton and CNA Angela Johnson for their care and love attending to Mrs. Bailey.

Memorials may be made to Camp Lake Stephens, 117 Camp Lake Stephens Rd., Oxford, MS 38655 or to the USM Wesley Foundation, P.O Box 8251, Hattiesburg, MS 39406. <iframe id="tukios_player_512x330" allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="330" scrolling="no" src="https://www.tributeslides.com/videos/embedded_video/NTRTFRM3WJRF5B26" width="512"></iframe>