Reverend James “Jim” Herman Bailey, 86, passed away July 9, 2017, in Tupelo, Mississippi. He was born January 30, 1931, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to the late William Charlie Bailey and Dovie Stephens Kennedy. Reverend Bailey was a retired minister that was ordained at West Ridge Baptist Church in 1966 and pastored there until 1975. He pastored at Hills Chapel Baptist Church in Kirkville, MS, from 1975 to 1977. Reverend Bailey was a Mason and member of the West Memphis Masonic Lodge #737. He attended Theological Seminary in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. He was an avid fisherman and storyteller.
Services will be at 5 p.m. Thursday, July 13, at the McNeece-Morris Funeral Home Chapel in Mantachie with Bro. Eddie Painter officiating. Burial will be in the Mantachie Cemetery.
He is survived by his wife, Eva Culver Bailey; three daughters, Brenda Bailey of Memphis, TN, Sue Bailey Bean (Lance) of Mantachie, and Vicki Bailey Arnett (Steve) of Gainesville, FL. He was blessed with six grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Also, he is survived by one sister, Myrtle Horne of the Carolina community, and two step sisters, Loraine Jones and Eloise Johnson, both of Nettleton.
He was preceded in death by his son, Gary Thomas Bailey; his two brothers, Jimmy Dale Kennedy and Leroy Kennedy; two sisters, Doris Knight and Francis Sanders; and his parents.
Visitation will be from 3 p.m. until service time Thursday at the funeral home.
