Millie Bailey

Millie Ann Bailey died of natural causes on November 25, 2020. She was born in 1929; just months after the Great Depression began. Throughout her childhood, she and her family farmed in Wilder, and then New Plymouth. She was just 17 years old when her brother, Emmett Woody, came back from the Pacific theater of World War II, and he didn’t come home empty-handed. Emmett brought a very handsome fellow Marine along with him, and his name was Junior Breitling. Millie always said she couldn’t believe such a handsome man fell for her, a chubby kid who played basketball and a snare drum in the New Plymouth High School band, but none of us were surprised; she was such a good, strong, and fiercely loyal woman, wife, mother, and grandmother. Millie and Junior’s love story went from the Baptist chapel, to a dairy farm, to the birth of their daughter, Deborah Ann (Mather). Millie gave Deborah love, encouragement, and a strong work ethic that helped her succeed in life. Unfortunately, life is not always a fairytale; after just nine years of marriage, Junior developed an inoperable brain tumor, and it devastated her, but Millie went to work. When Junior was well enough, she worked as a bookkeeper at Manser’s Ford dealership in Payette, and when Junior was faltering, her employer gave her the time she needed. When Junior passed away, she did not let the tragedy crush her; instead, she and her daughter moved to the “big city” of Caldwell. While working for the Caldwell Chamber of Commerce, she met her second husband, Dennison Ambrose, CPA and retired Naval Captain. They shared a love of travel, theater, and entertaining. It was at this time that her granddaughter, Heather Ann (Clark) was born. From the time Heather was delivered, Millie was there. Frankly, it was love at first sight, and it remained that way until Millie passed. In the meantime, Millie discovered the career she would follow until she was 71 years old. She was a real estate agent who prided herself in being both fair and successful, and she enjoyed most of those years with Richard B. Smith/Windermere Real Estate in Boise, many as a Million Dollar Producer. After dating for several years, Millie married Dewayne Bailey, a real estate developer and builder in Canyon County. They loved growing flowers, traveling to Hawaii, and fishing in Alaska. At the end, when Dewayne fell ill with diabetes, she took care of him until he passed away. Millie was full of fun and would take her daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter on trips to the Oregon Coast nearly every year. In fact, she loved everything about the coast: the ocean, the salt air, and the seafood. In her later years, she would spend summers at her daughter’s coastal home and loved every moment. Millie survived the Great Depression, World War II, and the death of two husbands. Needless to say, we will always remember her as the bedrock of our family and one of the strongest women we have ever known. Rest in peace, dear Millie Ann, “And flights of angels send thee to thy rest.” Graveside services will be held at the Park View Cemetery in New Plymouth, Idaho, on Saturday, December 5 at 2:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Dorothy L. White Memorial Scholarship Fund in the Idaho Community Foundation. This fund supports scholarships for students graduating from New Plymouth High School.