Mother, writer, art collector, talented home cook, gripping conversationalist.
Emeline Wood Bailey, a loving mother, gifted writer, avid reader, formidable trivia competitor, and a fabulous home cook with a history of stealing cats, passed away on September 17, 2025, at the age of 103.
Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey on February 28, 1922, she was predeceased by her parents, Arthur Auvermann, Sr., Frieda Wolf Auvermann (mother) and Calla Smith Auvermann (stepmother); her older brother Arthur Auvermann, Jr.; her younger brother Harry Auvermann; her former husband, Colonel Bradford S. Wood; her son-in-law, Mac Hancock; her grandson, Matthew S. Hancock; and her step son, Christian Bailey. Survived by husband, Richard V. Bailey; daughters Jean Wood Hancock, Shelley Wood Giordano, Rosemary Wood deButts and son Brad Wood, II; step daughter, Michelle Bailey; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
She will be remembered as a mother/grandmother who never failed to say, “I love you,” a supreme party-giver, breakfast chef extraordinaire, and a woman who used her many talents to cultivate engaging conversation, out-of-the-ordinary feasts and ‘70s-inspired home decorating choices (think shag carpet, flocked wallpaper and bold colors).
Emeline grew up in Ft. Worth, Texas, daughter of an oil and gas engineer. She graduated from Riverside High School in 1938 at the age of sixteen in a class of only thirty. At the age of nineteen, she married an Army Air Corps recruit, Brad Wood, on his way to World War II and worked during the war alongside her physicist brother, Harry, on the Manhattan Project. As an Air Force wife, Emeline relished the opportunity to travel and particularly loved her time in Palm Springs, California, and three years in Germany.
Upon retirement from the Air Force, Emeline and Brad chose Yorktown, Virginia as home mostly because she loved the trees. And the history. She worked at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, serving as an executive assistant and later, she surveyed visitors to find ways to improve the Foundation’s visitor experience. To this day, we have Emeline to thank for plentiful bathrooms and cold drink machines throughout the historic area.
Emeline retired after several years working with dear, dear friends, at Fort Eustis. Not one to sit around though, she volunteered at the Nelson House in Yorktown and at the Jamestown settlement, rode her bike from Yorktown to Jamestown and back (44 miles) and enjoyed her membership in the bike and square-dancing clubs.
Emeline’s humorous anecdotes about everyday life, frequently published in The Virginia Gazette, led her to meet and marry a fellow member of the Chesapeake Writer’s Club, Rick Bailey, at the age of seventy-eight. They lived in Cobb’s Creek for many years, moved to Williamsburg for some time and eventually settled at Spring Arbor, where she cultivated another set of devotees among the generous staff. The family is especially grateful to Rochelle Johnson, Emeline’s dedicated caregiver.
To the end, Emeline’s sense of style remained; she never met the day without lipstick, big red hair and a complete ensemble complemented by statement jewelry.
The world is a less interesting place with Emeline’s loss. But the memory of her and all she accomplished will live on in her family and countless friends.
It was a good life.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests online donations in Emeline’s name to the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation ([email protected]).
