Heaven opened its gates June 15, 2019, as Naomi (Putt) Drummond, 80 of Bay Springs and Laurel, was called to her eternal resting place secure in the arms of her Savior. She had fought and won a long and difficult battle with multiple chronic illnesses.
Visitation will be from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. at Colonial Chapel in Bay Springs. Funeral services will be held at Colonial Chapel Funeral Home in Bay Springs on Wednesday June 19th, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. Burial services will follow at Bay Springs cemetery in Bay Springs. Reverends Jamie Aultman and David Hardin will officiate.
Pallbearers include Charlie Adams, Barrett Hardin, Thomas Eason, Dalton Williams, Isaac Drummond, Alexander Drummond. Honorary pallbearers are members of the Faithful Followers Sunday School class at Bethlehem Community Church where she was a member and loved participating as much as was possible for her.
Naomi worked as an LPN in different healthcare facilities but her longest and most cherished service was at JCCH in the nursery loving and welcoming babies into the world until she retired.
Those who knew Naomi knew she delighted in gardening, both vegetables and flowers, cooking (especially her coconut and chocolate pies), caring for others and sharing her many unique gifts with those she met and loved.
Naomi was preceded in death by her parents, Sam and Tiny McDonald, husbands Henry Bayless and Charles Drummond, Sister Doris Wheeler and brothers, Thomas, Jim and Sammy McDonald and granddaughter Shasta Smith Jordan.
She is survived by her daughters Beth Adams (Don), Lynda Hardin (David), and son James Smith (Sandra); step children Bobby Bayless (Debbie), Denise Sims (Keith), Chris Drummond (Susan Jane) and Kimberly Hawthorne (Mike); 19 grandchildren and a multitude of great grandchildren; sisters Betty Walker, Kathy Joslin (Rock), Jeanette Ellingburg, and Kaye Lee (Mutt); sisters-in-law Cecile McDonald and Ruth McDonald and a host of other relatives. She loved each and every one of the members of her family.
Naomi left a legacy of friendships too numerous to list but special mention should be noted of Mary McCurdy and Gwen Lowe with whom she shared unique friendships.
Naomi was a joyful, fun-loving soul who lived life to the fullest. There have been many lives enriched by their associations with her. She will be greatly missed.
