Lila Belle (Bailey) Parker, 40 Bailey Place Road, Lavonia, Georgia, well known resident of King's Bench in the Mt. Olivet Community of Hart County and wife of the late Harold Espy Parker, died January 18, 2007.
She was born September 14, 1922 in Hart County, the beloved and only child of the late George Riley Bailey and Sudie Ella (Baker) Bailey; granddaughter of the late Landy John Tom Bailey and Mary I. (Bailey) Bailey and the late William Hammond Baker and Lettie Ann Savannah (Reed) Baker; and great-granddaughter of two Hart County Civil War Confederate Veterans: Peter E. Baker, 211d Lt., Co. C, 7th Confederate Calvary and Ishmael Bailey, Co. B, 1 st (Galt's) Regiment Infantry, Georgia State Line.
She was a great-great granddaughter of Samuel "Buster" Byrum, noted pioneer settler of King's Bench in Hart County, Georgia, moving there from Lancaster, SC in 1854. She was the fifth generation to own and farm part of the original "Buster" Byrum homestead and serve as caretaker for the Historic Byrum Family Cemetery which he founded on the Rock Springs Road in King's Bench. Through the Bailey Charitable Trust, she made many improvements to the Cemetery, erecting monuments, providing the land to expand the number of burial plots and giving the money to endow perpetual care of the entire Cemetery.
She was a great-great-great-great granddaughter of three American Revolutionary Soldiers: William Bailey Sr., NC Continental line, Halifax District, Warren County, NC; Captain Bailey Fleming, Camden District, SC; and James Sprunt, Butte County, NC.
She is survived by her two children: Daughter, Jan Carol (Parker) Boles and her husband Hugh Leslie Boles, Lavonia, GA and their two sons: Lance Parker Boles, Hartwell, GA and Landy Champion Boles, Augusta, GA; Son, Harold Travis Parker, Amelia Island, FL and Highlands, NC. She was a member of the Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, Hartwell, GA, where she was active in the affairs of the Church and a founding member of the Fidelis Sunday School Class.
A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, January 20, 2007 at 12:00 noon at the Mt. Olivet Baptist Church with Rev. Joe Black, Pastor, Mt. Olivet Baptist Church officiating. The family will receive friends at the Church foyer before the Service.The graveside service will be held at the Historic Byrum Family Cemetery. She was the fifth generation to be buried there, now resting with those she loved.
An antique Paschal candlestick will stand at the head of the casket which will be draped by an antique Funeral Pall with bullion fringe and an appliquéd silk cross inset with hand embroidered crimson and gold initials "IHS".