Eloise Thompson

Mrs. Eloise Yancey Bailey Thompson , age 88, of St. Marys, Georgia, passed away Monday
evening, February 27, 2017, at her home on Mush Bluff. Mrs. Thompson was born on
December 31, 1928, in Brunswick, GA, to the late Clarke Memary and Elizabeth Dean Yancey.
She grew up in Brunswick and graduated from Glynn Academy in 1946, going on to graduate
from Valdosta State College with a BS in biology in 1950.
Mrs. Thompson moved to St. Marys shortly after her graduation to teach first grade. After she
married and raised four children to school age, she returned to teaching until her retirement.
While her children were in school, she worked tenaciously to improve the public school system
and served as president of the local PTA.
After moving to St. Marys, Mrs. Thompson developed an avid interest in local history and
genealogy, and has written and lectured much about these topics.
She helped to establish the Guale Historical Society in 1975, an organization dedicated to the
area’s history. She often served as president, and wrote and edited the society’s newsletter for
34 years, She was sometimes the featured speaker at meetings and was so knowledgeable of
local history that she could fill in for a cancelled meeting’s speaker at a moment’s notice. She
often led walks around St. Marys and Oak Grove Cemetery for the Society and arranged and
led field trips to sites of local historical interest.
While serving as the Chairman of the Camden County Historical Commission, she worked with
Marguerite Reddick and Virginia Proctor to produce, in 1976, the first full-length history of the
county- Camden’s Challenge: A History of C amden County Georgia- in time for celebration of
Camden County’s bicentennial.
Mrs. Thompson was instrumental in establishing, with county-wide support, The Bryan-Lang
Historical Library in Woodbine which opened in 1987. She worked tirelessly to ensure the
library had proper funding and was on the board of the Bryan-Lang Foundation for many years.
She was instrumental in getting Orange Hall in St. Marys placed on the National Register of
Historic Places. In addition, her work also led to the placement of the St. Marys Historic District
and the McIntosh Sugar Mill Site on the National Register. She helped obtain funds for the
stabilization and preservation of the sugar mill ruins.
Mrs. Thompson provided background research for several of the books of noted historical
novelist Eugenia Price. She was commissioned by Union Carbide to write a detailed history of
the Floyd Plantation ruins on their property.
She put together many genealogy lines for both her family as well as other families and had a
wonderful memory for names and dates and the many family connections in Camden County
and beyond.
Recognizing the need for a senior living facility in Camden County, Mrs. Thompson was a major
force in getting Magnolia Manor of St. Marys opened in 2003. She served on its board of
directors and was on the advisory board up until her death.
She was a generous supporter of many charitable causes. She was a Founder of the
Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation and established one of the first donor-advised
funds there, which has made many charitable grants, supporting a variety of charitable causes.
Mrs. Thompson was strongly concerned about the environment, and placed conservation
easements, which protect land from ever being developed, on both the land around her Mush
Bluff home and land she owned along the St. Marys River. She strongly supported Cumberland
Island’s purchase and designation as a National Seashore, writing a short book on the island’s
history and serving on the Cumberland Island Historic Foundation. She was an enthusiastic
supporter of both the Satilla Riverkeeper and the newly-formed St. Marys Riverkeeper.
A longtime member of the St. Marys United Methodist Church, Mrs. Thompson held various
positions in the church and taught a Sunday school class for many years. Her research led to
the designation of the church as an “Historic Site in Methodism.” She wrote a book on the
history of the church for its bicentennial, St. Marys United Methodist Church 1799-1999.
She wrote her own funeral plans, which, being a stickler for getting it right, she subsequently
revised several times. Even though the cemetery was one of her favorite places, she worried
about the comfort of others and made sure to note in her funeral plans that any ceremony at the
cemetery be brief, so that attendees not suffer the heat, the cold, or the sandgnats.
She suffered the infirmities of advanced age, of which she had her share, with no complaints.
After her failing eyesight prevented her from reading, to satisfy her voracious appetite for
reading, she listened to audiobooks and asked friends and family to read to her, which they
gladly did.
Mrs. Thompson received many awards during her lifetime, although, given her humble nature,
any evidence of these tended to be tucked away in filing cabinets in her home. Among the
notable awards she received were two from the National Association of Press Women (Georgia
Chapter) for both history and column writing in 1984. She received the Georgia Statewide
Volunteer Leadership Award in 1986. As well, she was presented with the Governor’s Award in
the Humanities in 2004 for her contributions to Camden County and coastal Georgia history and
culture.
Mrs. Thompson is survived by her daughter, Bettina Bailey (Don) George, of Mountain Rest,
SC; her sons, Alan (Diann Johnson) Bailey of Savannah, GA; James Frank Bailey (Roz Harrell)
of Woodbine, GA; and John King (Rhonda Davis) Bailey of Clarkesville, GA; and her
grandchildren, Clarke Bailey, Ben Bailey, and Thomas Bailey. Mrs. Thompson was
predeceased by her husbands, James Wilbur Bailey and Charles Wesley Thompson, Jr.
Funeral services were held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 4, 2017, at the St. Marys United
Methodist Church with Dr. Derek McAleer and Pastor Tom Jones presiding. Interment followed
in Oak Grove Cemetery in St. Marys, GA.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the Bryan-Lang
Foundation/ 311 Camden Avenue/ Woodbine, GA 31569 or Magnolia Manor of St. Marys/ 4695
Charlie Smith, Sr., Dr./ St. Marys, GA 31558.
December 31, 1928 – February 27, 2017