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Nellie Mae Walker Bailey, 81, passed away on Thursday, September 17, 2026, at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, MS. A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, September 23rd, at Porter Funeral Home, with Rev. Becky Smith officiating. Visitation will be Wednesday from 10:00 A.M. until service time at the funeral home.
Nellie was born November 13, 1944, in Winston County, MS, to Orby Davis and Annie Jane Walker. She was a graduate of Noxapater High School and attended East Central Community College. She loved caring for people, old and young alike, and worked as a caregiver for the elderly for many years. Nellie especially loved children and cared for many children in her community and considered them family. Her daddy was a sharecropper and Nellie loved following in his footsteps and helping him in the fields. She was a “daddy’s girl”. She was a member of Middleton Methodist Church.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Lewis Bailey, Jr.; a brother, Orby Walker; and three sisters, Bea Sullivan, Minnie Mae Foster, and Marie Walker Hemphill.
Nellie is survived by two sons, William Yates and Davis Yates, both of Louisville; a daughter, Rebecca Mullins of Texas; a brother, George Walker of Starkville; a sister, Joy Hunt of Louisville; three grandchildren, Lisa Vernon, Christy Stewart, and Nathaniel Stewart; and eight great grandchildren.
The family would give special thanks to those who helped take such good care of Nellie: Hayden Kilgore, her Nurse Practitioner; Kayla Jackson of Accent Care; and Sherry Howard with Golden Triangle Personal Care Services.