Obituary of Jewell Fenter Bailey

Jewell Fenter Bailey, 95, a retired public school teacher and former pastor’s wife, went to heaven at 6:30 p.m. October 31 at her home in Paris, TX. She had an apparent heart attack, having endured congestive heart failure for several years. She was retired from a 40-year school teaching career which began in the one room Cypress School in the country, north of Wright City. She taught in Wright City, Shawnee, Fort Worth, Hot Springs, Modesto, CA and Lawton, OK where her husband served as a Baptist pastor. She enjoyed teaching, being a pastor’s wife and a mother. She loved animals and always had a dog. Born in Elk City, OK on a farm operated by her father, James Lewis Fenter and mother Lou Emma, she lived in Fort Worth while her dad attended Seminary and moved to Wright City, OK at age 13 in 1925 when her dad became pastor of the First Baptist Church. She married Fred Afton Bailey, of Wright City, in a ceremony in her mother’s home in Valliant in 1935. Her only son Afton Drehne Bailey was born in the old hotel in Wright City in 1937, where she taught school and her husband worked in the Dierks Lumber and Coal Co. Sawmill. She always wanted to be a teacher and as a girl on the farm would line up the cats and lecture to them. After her father died she was so determined to get an education that she took jobs in Wilburton and later Durant, cleaning the dorm, ironing shirts, washing dishes and mopping floors to pay her way through college. She received a BS in Elementary Education from Southeastern State Teacher’s College, Durant, OK in 1947 and also attended Oklahoma Baptist University. When she retired in 1974 her principal W.C. Seitter at Andrew Jackson School, Lawton, wrote in a letter to her: “You are, in my opinion, the kind of person that all teachers ought to be. I have never heard one word of criticism from your patrons and the children dearly love you. I deeply appreciate the cooperation that you have given to me personally and your loyalty and dedication will be long remembered.” Following her retirement from Valliant she took painting lessons along with her good friend Pat Smith of Millerton and painted many canvases which line her home in Paris today. She also wrote articles for Mature Living Magazine and California Teacher Magazine. She left a suitcase full of short stories and poems which her son plans to publish, as well as some 25 paintings. She was a member of First Baptist Church, Valliant 1974 ~ 1989. She had lived in Paris several years with her son and is a member of the Lamar-Delta Retired Teachers and School Employees Association, Paris First Baptist Church, Oklahoma Retired Educators Association, Life member of McCurtain County Historical Society, Alumni Association at Southeastern Oklahoma State University and Hill Country Arts Foundation, Kerrville, TX. Her family- The Fenter family- moved to Paris and Honey Grove area in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s from Arkansas. Both her mother and father lived in Honey Grove before moving to Elk City, OK where Jewell and sister, Myrtle were born. Her husband, Rev. Afton Bailey retired from Westwood Baptist Church, Lawton, OK in 1974 and they moved to Valliant where he preached at churches in Millerton and Garvin. He passed on Thanksgiving 1979 while serving as mayor of Valliant. Mrs. Bailey is survived by her son, Afton Drehne Bailey of Paris; sister, Myrtle Bearden, 97, of Lumberton, MS; brothers-in-law, John Wallace Bailey of Wright City, John Barton of Cloverdale, CA; nieces, Juanell Ladner of Lumberton, MS, Karen White of Duncan, OK, Susan Barton of Santa Fe, NM, Phil Barton of Phoenix, AZ; nephews, Tracy Bearden of McMinnville, OR, Roy Bearden of Brot Collins, CO, Joe Bearden of Corvallis, OR, Alton G. Ward of Wright City, Bob Bailey of Wright City; as well as her beloved miniature schnauzer, Toto.