Ellen Bailey Gordon
WINSTON-SALEM - With great sadness we announce that on February 26, 2023, Ellen Bailey Gordon, 61 passed away in the arms of her family after a courageous seven year battle with uterine cancer. Ellen, a lifelong bibliophile, intellectual, raconteur, firecracker, and all-around Pied Piper was born in Memphis, TN on April 12, 1961, the third child of Carl and Elizabeth Bailey. Ellen breezed through her education at Immaculate Conception high school and the University of Memphis graduating with honors in 1984 with dual degrees in BA and B Ed. She met and married her ideal partner, Stan Gordon prior to graduation after which they moved to Winston-salem, NC, where Ellen received her Juris Doctor from Wake Forest University in 1987.
After a brief practice of law, Ellen followed her heart and directed her energy to raising and home schooling her four children. She took pride in having each day be a tailor-made adventure for them. When home schooling came to an end, Ellen earned her MLS in Library Sciences from University of North Carolina Greensboro in 2015 and served as the librarian at the Downtown School and the Main Street Academy in Winston-salem where she was in her true element, surrounded by books and children.
Ellen is predeceased by her parents, Carl and Elizabeth Bailey.
She is survived by her loving husband of 41 years, Stan Gordon, and their four children: Wesley Gordon (Brandon Felterman), Sgt. Lyle Gordon of the US Army, Bailey Gordon (Philip Blalock), Mary Hannah Gordon, and grandson Grayson Felterman. She is also mourned by her siblings, John Bailey, Mary Beth Wiggins (David), and Carla Roseberry (Michael) and a host of adoring nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews.
The rosary will be prayed at the Salem Funeral Home 2951 Reynolda Rd, Winston Salem, NC on March 1, 2023, at 6:30 PM with visitation beginning at 7:00 PM. A funeral mass will be celebrated by Father Gober at St. Leo’s Catholic Church at 11AM on March 2nd, followed by interment at Westlawn Gardens.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorials be made to the Piedmont School, an educational oasis for children who learn differently in High Point, NC for a library to be named in Ellen’s honor, 815 Old Mill Rd, High Point, NC 27265 www.thepiedmontschool.com. Condolences may be made at www.salemfh.com