Dorothy Bailey

Dorothy Davis Bailey was born on October 11,1946 in Lake Charles, Louisiana to the late Robert Davis and Marjorie Allison-Davis. She was the youngest of two daughters born to that union. Her parents and sibling died early in her life so at age 5, she was placed in the loving care of her maternal grandmother, Melissa Mathieu-Allison. Her dearly beloved grandmother was already in her golden years at that time but raised her nevertheless until age 16 when her health and advancing age compelled her to pass this responsibility on to Marjorie’s sister, Rose Allison-Windham. Dorothy or Dot (Dot-T) as she was known to her family, confessed her life to Christ and was baptized at Christian Baptist in Lake Charles, Louisiana under the pastorage of the late Rev. W.C. Clark. In 1955 the family moved to Oakland, California and joined Bethel Missionary Baptist Church under the late Pastor Herbert Guice. Dorothy credited her Aunt Rose for instilling in her a devotion to God by making sure the family prayed daily, read their bibles and attended church.

Upon leaving Lake Charles, Dorothy attended the Oakland Public Schools and graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 1964. After graduation, she attended the Peralta Community College District and graduated in 1966 from the Merritt College Nursing Program. She later went on to become a registered nurse (RN), and served in many different capacities in the healthcare field. She worked at various hospitals in Oakland, California, the Washington D.C. area, and Dallas,Texas including the highly esteemed Baylor and Methodist hospital systems. She accepted employment in private duty nursing, home health care, and hospital administration and excelled in every assignment she was given.

On November 22, 1974, Dorothy’s life became even richer when she married Raymond Lee Bailey, who was her heart and the absolute love of her life. It was at this time and at a tender age that she also acquired his two pre-teen daughters, Pamela and Cynthia, as well as his stepdaughter Avis. Dorothy and Ray enjoyed 23 years of marital bliss and happiness before his untimely demise. During these years, besides committing to each other and their children, Dorothy and Ray made a decision to commit to the uplifting of the African American community. As a team, the two founded and worked together building Bailey’s Cradle and Class Christian Academy, an early learning center which served children from infancy to 2nd grade. This center impacted the lives of many young children and families in Dallas until it closed after 22 years in business.

Dorothy joined the Concord Missionary Baptist Church with her husband Raymond in July, 1980. She supported his call to the Gospel Ministry in 1986 and assisted him as he served as a Home Bible Study leader from 1990-1992. Some time after Raymond entered into eternal rest in 1998, Dorothy attended The Potter’s House Church led by Bishop and Mrs. T.D. Jakes until the pandemic of 2019-2020 and her declining health prohibited her active attendance. It was during this time that she began participating in the online Sunday Seminar of the Greater St. Paul Church in Oakland, California, where classes were often facilitated by her daughter Cynthia, the ministry leader for Discipleship and Education. She also made a daily practice of studying her bible at the kitchen table and maintaining a prayer and gratitude journal where she documented her prayers for her family and friends, specifying them by name and particular area of need. By the time she transitioned from labor to reward, she had filled over 300 pages of double entries with these prayers.

Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents Robert Davis and Marjorie Allison Davis, her sister Ida Davis, and her loving husband Raymond L.Bailey. She leaves to cherish her memory: three daughters Pamela Bailey Norwood-Todd (Aubrey), Cynthia Bailey Breedlove (Curtis), Avis Pinkard Yates; a special adopted God-Daughter Theresa Muhammad (Bismillah);grandchildren Damario Norwood, Dyani Norwood, Aubrey Cox-Todd (Danielle), Sirevalon Cox-Todd (Tumiso), Titus Todd, Nitosha Simien, Blake Dyson, Naomi Breedlove, Curtis Breedlove, Nicholas Pinkard, and Sherron Yates; a total of twenty-one great grandchildren; four Sister-in-laws Vivian Bouldin, Shirley Cockrell (Emmanuel), Bonnie Kerl (Jim) of Dallas, Texas and Vickie Campbell (Thomas) of Lancaster, California; a host of cousins including: Rev. Horace Allison Jr (Patsy), Becky Carter (Michael), Eva Coleman (Roscoe Murphy) among others. She is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews, other extended family members and friends who fondly remember the times they shared with her.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.laurellanddallas.com for the Bailey family.