Beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend, Doris Bailey, 96, passed away November 6, 2018, at the home of her son Scott in Salt Lake City, Utah. She died of TMB (too many birthdays!).
Doris Louise Van Dam Bailey was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on January 13, 1922, to Lillieth Ann Smith and Herbert Evans Van Dam. She was the 10th of 14 children.
She attended Roosevelt Elementary School, Granite Junior High and Granite High School, where she was active in home economics, student government, debate and tennis.
She attended Utah State University where she majored in Nutrition and Dietetics. It was there she met Sam Bailey. There were married in the Salt Lake temple on April 24, 1944. They made their home in Corvallis for over 65 years.
They are the parents of six children, Linda Gardner (John) of Orem, Utah, Louise Bitner (Roger) of Salt Lake City, Utah, Sam Jr. (Lisa) of Albany, Sue Lowe (Dave — deceased) of South Jordan, Utah, Steven Bailey of Omaha, Nebraska, and Scott Bailey of Salt Lake City, Utah. They have 15 grandchildren and 35 great-grandchildren.
Doris liked to read and she loved and often quoted poetry. She had a desire to play tennis until the day she died — though she would add once in a while "they'd have to allow me two bounces like they did Katharine Hepburn after she turned 90!" She enjoyed candy-making, especially chocolate-dipping at holiday time.
She was active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where she served in the Relief Society, Primary, and Young Women organizations and the French Name Extraction program. She also served two full time missions with her husband.
Survivors include all six children.
She was preceded in death by her husband; parents, all 13 siblings; one granddaughter; and one great-granddaughter.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. on November 16, 2018, at the LDS Stake Center, 4141 NW Harrison, Corvallis. Visiting from 10 to 11 a.m.
Private vault entombment will take place at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Corvallis.