Ora Bailey

A funeral service celebrating the life of Ora Bliss (Adams) Bailey, age 99, of Thornville, and a resident of Chapel Grove, will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 14, at Criss Wagner Hoskinson Funeral Home, 179 Granville Street, Newark, with Pastor Jeff Smith officiating. Friends may call from 12-2 p.m. prior to the service at the funeral home. Burial will take place in Fairmount Cemetery.Ora was born September 7, 1915 in Rich Hill, Muskingum County, Ohio to the late James Edward and Eliza Rebecca (Bowman) Adams. She passed away on Monday, January 12, 2015 at the Selma Markowitz Care Center (operated by Hospice of Central Ohio).Ora was raised by her father and sisters, Rachel and Wilma, after the death of her mother when Ora was 17 months old. She was a 1933 graduate of Chandlersville (Ohio) High School where she had been class Valedictorian and played on the county championship basketball team. Ora was baptized at Ark Springs Baptist Church in High Hill, Ohio and was a member of the First Baptist Church of Newark. A 4-H Club member since 1923, Ora was also a member of the Farm Bureau and the Womens Farm Bureau Council, the Thornville Garden Club, the Thornville Lions Club and was an avid supporter of Dawes Arboretum. Family was of utmost importance to Ora and she took great pride in being a homemaker and farming with her husband on the family farm. She resided there through 2013, caring for her beloved cats and dogs. She was an excellent cook and baker and was well-known for her delicious pies. She enjoyed gardening and tending her flowers, art, sewing, bird watching, Tole painting and reading. An avid bowler, Ora was a member of the 600 Club, collected clowns and enjoyed flower arranging, having made silk bouquets and arrangements for the weddings of all of her granddaughters. Ora had a quaint sense of humor and enjoyed playing practical jokes. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.She is survived by two children, Sue Carlin of Elizabethtown, Kentucky and Dr. Joe Steve Bailey (Linda) of Newark; grandchildren, Viora Beth Gallagher (Terry) of Westerville, Marquis Buckley Carlin (Gail) of Vine Grove, KY, Jodi Sue Martin (Glenn) of Columbia, KY, Heather Anne Cummings (Audelle) of Bloomington, IL, Christopher Michael Bailey (Cory) of Frazeysburg, Matthew Stephen Bailey (Megan) of Dublin and Bradley Scott Bailey (Kelly) of Edwards, IL; 24 great-grandchildren; 10 great-great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 70 years, Joe W. Bailey, whom she married on December 19, 1933 in Wheeling, West Virginia and who preceded her in death on February 7, 2004; and by a son-in-law, Robert Buckley Carlin on July 24, 2014; four brothers and three sisters.Memorial contributions may be made to Dawes Arboretum, 7770 Jacksontown Road, Newark, OH 43056.Criss Wagner Hoskinson Funeral Home is honored to care for the Bailey family.