Sallie Bailey Schott

Sallie Bailey Schott painted her way through life with watercolor, cheer, and an extraordinary capacity for finding joy in the ordinary. On September 27, 2025, at age 81, she was called home to the Lord, leaving behind a world considerably more colorful than she found it.

Sallie was born in Spencer, Iowa, on March 13, 1944, to Theodore Mead Bailey, Jr. and Jean Wilson Bailey. The daughter of an artist, she applied her creativity to every corner of her life.

She met her future husband, Edward (Ted) Schott, during a carefully orchestrated meet-cute on a dock at Green Lake in Spicer, Minnesota. Both on summer vacation before returning to college, Sallie spotted the cute boy earlier and hatched a plan: she'd sit on the dock "reading a book" and he'd eventually wander over. He did. When he asked if she wanted to go for a motorboat ride, she said yes so quickly he was apparently stunned-though anyone who knew Sallie wasn't surprised. That dock-side strategy launched a 54-year marriage that took them around the country with two daughters in tow.

A graduate of the University of Wyoming with a B.A. in art, Sallie worked in a variety of mediums throughout her life-sculpture, watercolor, pastel, and jewelry-right up until her death. Her creativity wasn't confined to her studio. It showed up in her vocabulary, where "yummy" and "marvelous" did heroic work. It appeared in her collection of vibrant scarves and the stunning jewelry she crafted by hand. It sang as she listened to country western on the radio-or "cowboy music," as she called it. It emerged in her genuine fascination with puffy clouds and vibrant colors in the sky, and in her uncanny ability to turn a doctor's appointment or a trip to the drug store into a wonderful adventure.

Above all, her creativity was most evident in how she lived: with joy, generosity, kindness, and delight. For over six years, she poured that same energy into a heart failure support group she created and championed at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, supporting scores of people navigating challenges she knew firsthand.

Sallie was preceded in death by her husband, Edward (Ted) Schott, who died September 2, 2019. She is survived by her brother, Dr. Theodore Mead Bailey, III; her sister, Alice Wilson Bailey; her daughter, Pauline "Polly" Elizabeth Schott Blair; Polly's husband, Randall Robert Blair; Polly's children, Theodore Edward Blair and Claire David Blair; and her daughter, Annie Rachel Schott Mitchell; and Annie's husband, Erik Joseph Mitchell.

A celebration of life for both Edward and Sallie Schott will be held on Monday, October 13, 2025, at 2 p.m. at Trace Ridge Baptist Church in Ridgeland, Mississippi. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to The MIND Center at UMMC by mail to 2500 N. State St., Jackson, MS, 39216; or to Trace Ridge Baptist Church at 238 Lake Harbour Dr., Ridgeland, MS, 39157.