Cora Faye Bailey

Cora Faye (Faye) Bailey (nee Hanback) passed away peacefully on December 5, 2025. Faye was preceded in death by husband Joseph T. (Joe) Bailey, parents Ellis O. and Donia Scott Hanback, sister Lola Palmer and infant son Christopher. She is survived by children Anne (Aline Lindbeck) and Michael (Caroline) Bailey, grandchildren Samuel and Elizabeth Bailey, and brothers David (Barbara) Hanback and Paul Hanback.

Faye was born October 3, 1939 and grew up in Florence, Alabama, graduating from Central High School in 1958. She worked as a secretary, leading to a position with the US Army at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. It was there she met her sweetheart, Joe, and they wed in 1962. Faye then worked for the Social Security Administration in Chattanooga, TN and Columbus, OH until her children were born. The family moved to Minnesota in 1974 for Joe's job, and Faye continued to devotedly care for her family, taking her children to their many activities, serving as a Girl Scout troop leader and Cub Scout mom, and keeping the home running during Joe's work travels. Faye and Joe moved to their dream home on beautiful Lake Keowee near Clemson, SC after Joe's retirement in 2000. She loved visits from family, friends, and her grandchildren, and she especially loved the warm weather.

Faye was an excellent hostess and cook, and is remembered fondly by friends for her parties, and by family for the fabulous meals she prepared. She was also an avid reader and loved to share books with family and friends. Faye was always poised, stylish and beautiful, and her smile and infectious laugh lit up a room. Faye was also a strong and resilient lady. She contracted polio in one leg as a child but overcame the illness to have a very active life, enjoying tennis, exercising and walking. She suffered from post-polio syndrome later in life but did not let it keep her from traveling and staying active.

Faye and Joe returned to Minnesota in 2022 and Faye subsequently moved into memory care. She overcame many health obstacles in the last years of her life but never lost her smile and remained charming, pleasant and funny to the end. The family thanks the staff at The Lakes at Stillwater, especially the wonderful caregivers, as well as St. Croix Hospice nurses and caregivers, for the respectful, patient and loving care provided to Faye. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Alzheimer's Association.