Funeral services for Emma Lee (Ballew) Dunn-Bailey, age 72, will be held on Thursday, June 14th, 2007 at 10:30 AM at the Hart Funeral Home Chapel, with Dr. Allen Schneider officiating. Interment will follow at 1:00 PM at the Ft. Gibson National Cemetery. Services are under the direction of Hart Funeral Home. Those serving as honorary pallbearers include Bo Deaton, Jerry Bo Bailey, Tiffany Bailey, Zachary Dunn, and Grant Dunn. Emma Lee Bailey was born on June 18th, 1934 in the old Cookson area of Oklahoma. She was the youngest of five daughters born to Jack L. and Bluie Josephine (Carlile) Ballew. Emma went home with her Lord and Savior on Sunday, June 10, 2007, with her loved ones by her side. Emma attended school in the Tahlequah area and attended college. She married and raised two sons, Donald "Rusty" and Mike Dunn. She worked as the secretary to the superintendent of Tahlequah Public schools and Assistant to the Dean at Paris Jr. College. On April 3, 1977, she married the love of her life, Lavelle E. Bailey at Midwest City, OK. She and her husband retired in 1992 and returned to Tahlequah. After retirement they enjoyed traveling in the United States, Canada, and throughout Europe. Emma was a member of the Democratic Women's Organization, the First United Methodist Church of Tahlequah and the United Methodist Women's Organization. Emma also enjoyed crocheting, sewing and reading. Emma will be missed and remembered as a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and friend to all who knew her. She is preceded in death by her parents, two sisters, Kathleen Campbell and Meldean Vore. Those left to cherish her memory include her husband Lavelle of the home, two sons, Donald "Rusty" Dunn and wife Becky of Ft. Smith, AR, Mike Dunn and wife Susan of Muskogee, OK, Stepson Larry Bailey and wife Penny of Brea, CA and stepdaughter Cynthia Ann Bailey of Anaheim, CA. Emma has five very special grandchildren: Tiffany Bailey, Bo Deaton, Jerry Bo Bailey, Zachary Dunn, and Grant Dunn, and many other relatives and friends.
(from A. Preston)