Ruby Ann Rose Bailey's Obituary
Ruby Ann Rose Bailey, 80, passed away peacefully, with her husband at her side, on December 1, 2021, at the Willard Walk Hospice House, Fayetteville, AR. She was born June 12, 1941, at Birmingham, AL, to the late Pauline Tuggle Rose and Chesley Eugene Rose.
She is survived by her husband, Dennis Lee Bailey, and her daughters, Eva Leana Bailey Houston, and her husband, John Thomas Houston, of Fayetteville, AR, and Rebecca Jane Bailey Schneringer, and her husband, James Lee Schneringer, of Bentonville, AR. In addition, she is survived by her brother, Harry Eugene Rose, of Piedmont, AL, his wife, Katherine Maxine Rose, and daughter, Jacqulyn Harianne Rose, Jacksonville, AL. Other survivors include grandchildren, Benjamin Thomas Houston, Fayetteville, AR, Mary Rose Houston, Springfield, MO, Sarah Bailey Schneringer, Davidson, NC, and Anna Claire Schneringer, Bentonville, AR. She married her husband, Dennis, on June 6, 1964, at Central Church of Christ, Birmingham, AL, with William E. Threet, officiating, and at her death she and her husband had celebrated over 57 years of marriage.
In 1959 she graduated from West End High School, Birmingham, AL. Afterwards she attended Birmingham-Southern College, and in 1963 she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from David Lipscomb College, Nashville, TN. In 1983 she earned a Master of Science in Education from the University of Arkansas. She taught Spanish at Banks High School, Birmingham, AL, Urbana High School, Urbana, IL, Sidney Lanier High School, Montgomery, AL, and Norman High School, Norman, OK.
When she moved with her family to Fayetteville in 1971, she sought interviews with the hope of teaching Spanish. After she was asked to explain what Spanish was, she abandoned that goal. The interviewer remarked about having never heard of Spanish before. With time for graduate school, she taught remedial reading at Greenland Public Schools, and then she joined the Boston Mountain Education Cooperative, where she became coordinator for writing and administering federal grants with public schools within much of the northwest quadrant of the state of Arkansas.
With BMEC colleagues at her side, she regularly entered chicken processing plants at all shifts to interview Hispanic parents in order to register children in area schools. She also set up tables at blueberry farms at 5:30 in the morning to interview migrant parents, register their children, and distribute gifts of basic necessities for school. Traveling from Gentry to Mountain Home, Omaha, and Jasper, and including the larger school districts, she maintained a regular schedule of visiting with teachers and administrators to oversee grant uses. Through her efforts and with those of her colleagues in the BMEC, she worked to secure millions in federal funds for schools to employ in teaching migrant school children.
She was a faithful member of First United Presbyterian Church, Fayetteville, AR where she taught younger children in Sunday church school. Throughout her life, she was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and friend to many people. Even in her last moments, she possessed a fine sense of humor that was always supportive and affirming and never critical of other people. She had a clear understanding of educational organizations, and people often sought her advice and guidance with challenges they faced.
A memorial service will be held on Monday, December 13, 2021, at 2:00 pm at First United Presbyterian Church, Fayetteville. Any memorial donation may be directed to the library fund at FUPC, 695 E. Calvin Street, Fayetteville, AR 72703.
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