Coping with Grief
We would like to offer our sincere support to anyone coping with grief. Enter your email below for our complimentary daily grief messages. Messages run for up to one year and you can stop at any time. Your email will not be used for any other purpose.
Myrna P. Bailey, a life-long resident of Dooly County and lovingly known to most as "Granny," died Sunday, March 21, 2021.
Myrna grew up an only child of her parents, the late Otha Peavy and Annie Ruth Thompson Peavy and her family believes being doted on solely by her parents during the early years of her life contributed much to her spirited personality that those around her recognized and loved in all the years that followed. While in high school, Myrna was a member of the basketball team but when the coach wanted to put her in the game, she begged not to play. It turns out she wanted to be a part of the team to have a ride to all the games! She was a member of the first graduating class of Vienna High School and went on to briefly study nursing in college. It was the first day of the biology lab class when she quickly discovered nursing was most definitely not her calling!
Myrna may not have been a nurse in the traditional sense, but she excelled in her caregiving skills for her children and then her grandchildren throughout her years as a homemaker. She was also well known throughout middle Georgia for her catering business, elaborate wedding cakes with fountains, birthday cakes and of course, her famous chocolate and caramel layer cakes. There was always a child or grandchild pacing her kitchen floor waiting to lick the icing spoon. She also enjoyed working in her yard and was the owner of Pinehurst Nursery for a number of years where she relished interactions with the community members coming in and out of the business. Belk Matthews in Cordele was fortunate to also have Myrna as an employee for many years and she loved telling all who would listen the gossip of the store!
Her greatest role was that of Granny and more people knew her as Granny than Myrna. As Granny, one of her greatest joys were the years she spent picking up her grandchildren and "extended grands" from Fullington Academy each day in her Looney Tunes Venture van and serving as their taxi service to and from their activities. You could count on her to be the very first person in the car pick-up line each day so she could engage in conversation with everyone who walked by. After school in her house on "backstreet" with the kids, she ruled with a wooden spoon but wasn't quick enough to actually catch anyone in action for punishment during those days. She encouraged good eating habits and neatness through her rules of limited snacks, drinking from sippy cups and always removing shoes at the back door. Many of the rules had "work-arounds" that there's no doubt Granny was well aware of but allowed nonetheless. The number of ballgames and children who played in her yard are too numerous to count. She was at every ballgame and prom walk-out possible always with a front row seat-literally. Once, she even slipped before a basketball game and while in the urgent care, she opted to have staples in her head instead of stitches because stitches and numbing would take too long and she was in a hurry to get back to the gym before tip-off.
Granny was loving and the biggest fan of all her children, grandchildren and all of their friends whether they played sports or not. She cooked more meals than can be counted and she never knew who or how many would be coming in the back door, but all were welcomed.
To know Granny was to love her. She loved all things Dallas (especially JR!), the Young and the Restless, the Bold & the Beautiful, the Atlanta Braves, Alfred Dunner, SAS shoes, adult coloring books with her gel pens, seafood, Pizza Hut and most especially-she loved her iPad and cell phone as they were her lifeline to family and friends. Her face lit up when watching videos of her family in her last days and the biggest smiles were when she saw all the great grandchildren via Facetime. Her love for her family was unparalled.
She is survived by her children, Bruce Bailey (Rhonda) of Cordele, Rena Bledsoe (Tommy) of Vienna and Leslie Gobbel (Gene) of Perry; her grandchildren, Beth Stewart, Ben Bailey, Brandon Bailey, Taylor Dickerson, Will Mashburn, Abby Mashburn, Brennan Bledsoe, Blair Bledsoe, Graham Gobbel and Molly Gobbel; several great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her son, Chip Bailey.
Graveside services will be at 11 AM Wednesday, March 24 in Liberty Cemetery. Rev. Don Howell will officiate. Everyone attending is encouraged to wear a face mask and remember to socially distance. The service will be live-streamed on the funeral home Facebook page.
Memorial gifts may be made to Liberty Baptist Church, c/o Beverly Peavy, 725 Old Americus Road, Vienna, Georgia 31092.
Brannen-NeSmith Funeral Home of Vienna has charge of arrangements.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Myrna P. (Peavy) Bailey, please visit our floral store.