Mama Ann, Bailey’s Fine Jewelry Co-Founder, Dies at 100

Ann Weaver Bailey, known affectionately as Mama Ann, co-founded Bailey’s Fine Jewelry in 1948 and "passed away peacefully on Monday, February 16, 2026," at the age of 100. Born June 21, 1925, in Nash County, North Carolina, she spent her later years in Rocky Mount, where the business she helped build remained a local fixture.

Her early life was marked by hardship: after losing both parents by the age of eight, Ann grew up at Oxford Orphanage. In 1944 she moved back to Rocky Mount, and it was there that she "met and married the love of her life, Clyde Bailey Sr." Four years later, the couple opened Bailey’s Fine Jewelry, establishing what the obituary describes as "a lasting legacy rooted in love, family, and hard work."

When Clyde Bailey Sr. died, the obituary does not list a date, Ann was left a widow with two small children and the jewelry business to run. The notice records that she "rose to the challenge with remarkable courage and strength," stewarding the company and her family through uncertain times. The firm’s founding in 1948 is a fixed point in that narrative, a year that anchors her dual roles as businesswoman and matriarch.

Her personality is recorded in vivid fragments. Legacy’s tribute calls her "young at heart, the life of the party, and a source of joy wherever she went," and notes that she "truly lived life to the fullest." She liked to say her middle name was "Go" and lived by a simple directive: "Keep on keepin’ on." After retiring, she traveled and spent time with grandchildren and later great-grandchildren, activities the obituary links to "immeasurable joy."

The funeral-home guestbook on the Wheeler-woodlief page collected condolences that reflect her local reach. Comments name Gregory Battle & Family of Raleigh, and a self-identified customer, Cheryl Ann Landin, who noted long-standing ties to the business. One entry read, "MISS ANN belonged to the 'Greatest Generation' when GRIT is what counted. She was always a joy to be around and we know she will be greatly missed by her family." Another offered, "Mama Ann lived a full life and now she is resting in the arms of her Savior. What a great legacy she has left behind and so many sweet memories to cling to."

The online memorial lists her birth and death dates as "June 21, 1925 ~ February 16, 2026" and provides interactive options for mourners, including "Light a Candle," "Add a Memory to the Timeline," and "Sign the Guestbook," along with a contact phone number for immediate help, (252) 451-8800. Those details underscore how a regional jeweler’s founder was also a community figure whose life tied family, faith, and local commerce together.

Ann Weaver Bailey leaves behind a story that begins in an orphanage in Nash County and extends through a half-century of retail and family life in Rocky Mount. Her motto and her work remain linked: a small jewelry business founded in 1948 and a century-long life defined by perseverance, service, and a readiness to keep going.