Jerry Dowling Bailey
Parker-Rhoden Funeral Home
Jerry Dowling Bailey passed away Friday, November 20, 2020 at the Agape Hospice House in Columbia. He was 95.
Born April 1925 in Canadys, South Carolina, to Samuel Bailey and Beulah Langdale Bailey, he was the youngest of thirteen siblings. He attended North Charleston High School and graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1952, where he earned his pharmacy degree. Jerry worked on the family farm for two years before serving in the United States Army until 1947. On July 16, 1952, he married Mary Lou Lloyd Bailey of Spencer, North Carolina.
Mr. Bailey lived in Walterboro and operated Bailey’s Pharmacy, a pharmacy he opened Labor Day 1955. Jerry, a licensed pharmacist, ran the store until he closed it in November 1991. He continued working as a pharmacist part-time until he retired in 2005.
Jerry was a deacon at the First Baptist Church of Walterboro and was very active in the Walterboro Rotary Club, receiving numerous awards and recognitions.
Jerry and Mary Lou raised three sons in Walterboro before moving to Columbia in 2003.
Survivors include Marianne Bailey (Columbia), three sons; Jerry “Jack” D. Bailey, Jr. (Dawn) of Chapin; Mitchell L. Bailey (Sheila) of Isle of Palms and Scott G. Bailey (Elena) of Columbia. Survivors also include seven grandchildren; Brooke, Andy, Emily (Alex), Hampton, Rhett, McCauley and Spencer; and one great grandson, Isaac. Jerry was preceded in death by his wife of 57 years, Mary Lou Bailey.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday, November 24, 2020 at 1:00 in the chapel of Parker-Rhoden Funeral Home, with entombment following in the Greenlawn Memorial Gardens Mausoleum. The family will receive friends beginning at 12:15 at the funeral home, located at 117 Paul Street in Walterboro.
