Gordon Bay

Gordon Bay, son of the late B.H. and Sarah Bay, was born on February 16, 1929, at Eminence, Missouri, and passed from this life on May 2, 2022, at Autumn Oaks Caring Center in Mountain Grove, Missouri.

Gordon’s younger years were very interesting. He grew up during hard times. For money he shined shoes at Muggins Barber Shop and sold and delivered the Grit Newspapers. At 16, he went to Montana and worked as a cook for the Civilian Conservation Corps during the summer. At 17, he spent the summer in California with the C.C.C. fighting fires and taking down diseased trees near Yosemite National Park.

Gordon graduated from Cabool High School in 1948. After graduation, he joined the U.S. Army and served four years in Panama. On his 1951 furlough, he met Mary Lee Sanders, and a year later they were married. To this union two children were born, Sarah and Morgan. They moved to California in 1952 where their first child was born. When she was three months old they decided she needed a grandma and grandpa, so they moved back to Mountain Grove.

Gordon worked for Dodds truck line for a number of years, and then he worked for Gordon’s Transport out of Memphis, Tennessee. In 1967, they were transferred to Memphis where they made their home for 23 years. The first thing he did was to find a home church for his family. He became a Christian in 1962 and was faithful to his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The church he attended was LaBelle Haven Baptist in Memphis. There he became a Sunday school teacher and a deacon. In 1991, they retired and returned to Mountain Grove and attended the First Free Will Baptist Church.

Gordon loved to read. He served on the Wright County Library board for over 15 years. Gordon was a 3rd degree Master Mason and was a member of the Mountain Grove Lodge #158 since April 20, 1964.

Besides his parents, Gordon was preceded in death by five brothers and by two sisters.

He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Mary Lee Bay; his daughter, Sarah Thompson; his son, Morgan Bay; three grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, other relatives and many friends who will miss him very much.