Sidney Nellene Bailey passed away peacefully at the age of 104 on June 8, 2026, in her home, accompanied by her daughter Michelle Bailey.
Born on January 1, 1922, in Mountain Creek, Alabama, Sidney grew up in the home of her grandmother, who she loved and admired deeply. She graduated top of her class and was accepted to college but ultimately pursued a career and work after high school. And work she did. Her family recounts that Sidney famously had more jobs than anybody. She had an extraordinary work ethic and ability to learn new skills. She held varied and exciting roles, from serving as an assistant in a local law office in Guntersville to working at Walgreens in Birmingham to working at the post office to serving as executive assistant to a future Alabama governor to serving as the beautiful hostess of a famous Dallas Arabian-themed restaurant called La Tunisie.
Sidney was a great mother to her two girls, Beverly and Michelle, and a loving wife to her husband George, an English American who she met in Mississippi, where he was stationed during WWII. Once Sidney moved to Opelika, where she lived for many years and raised her daughter Michelle after George had passed, she spent time with her baby sister Aranell and many friends. She enjoyed hobbies, including fishing, taking classes at the local college, and reading, but most of all, she loved gardening. Sidney won numerous awards in the local papers for Best Backyard.
Sidney was a woman who had great taste and who enjoyed fashion and grand adventures. She would notoriously whisk away her nephew Charlie, Aranell’s son, for grand weekend trips to the Florida coast and fun times trying on the latest styles at the department stores. She would tell Charlie that she wanted her tombstone to say that she never found the perfect pair of black pumps!
With enthusiasm and energy, she took on the role of grandmother and was an incredible support and role model for her granddaughter, Elizabeth, the daughter of her eldest Beverly. Sidney would come to Austin to spend time with her granddaughter, taking her to school and activities, and Sidney would spend summers with Beverly, Sam, Elizabeth, and Laura in Colorado. She loved to catch big fish with Sam.
In her later years, she moved to Huntsville, AL, where she lived next to her daughter Michelle. Sidney maintained her love of reading and learning. She also kept up with her beautiful garden. And of course, she maintained her tradition of making pecan pies at Christmas for everyone on her “list,” baking over 40 pies in a single year for the mailman, trash collector, and neighbors alike (if you fell off the list, you knew you messed up!). She continued to have many great friends and caregivers who would visit and tend to her, including Paula Martinez who took care of her like her own mother and decorated the home with joy and brightness and Regina Baker who helped her with tasks big and small, from medicines to doctor visits to replacing hearing aids.
At her 100th birthday, where she was surrounded by these and other caring friends and family, she shared with everyone her secret to longevity: “Keep moving!”
Sidney is preceded in death by her parents, Richard Despain and Nellie Scott Pettijohn; her siblings, Robert Pettijohn, Earl Pettijohn, Opal Holman, Ruby Pettijohn, and Aranell Pettijohn Ray; and her husband, George C. Bailey. She is survived by her children, Beverly Lynn Hadaway (Samuel) of Dripping Springs, Texas, and Michelle Nellene Bailey (Anna) of Huntsville, Alabama; granddaughter, Elizabeth Bailey Hadaway (Alejandra) of Houston, Texas; and step-granddaughter, Laura Hadaway Gambrell (Kirk) of Colorado Springs, Colorado.
A brief service will be held at the Spry Funeral Home located at 2411 Memorial Pkwy NW, Huntsville, AL 35810 on Saturday June 13 at 1:00 in the afternoon. Flowers are welcome.
