Esther Fay Manduano Bailey

Fay was born May 15, 1921, on the family farm Northeast of Stratford, Oklahoma to Daniel Lee Heath and Dessie Bryant Heath. She was the sixth of eight children. She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother Harrison; her sisters Theron, Thelma, Shirley, Maud and Pauline; her son Anthony and granddaughter Natalie.

She is survived by her sister Lucille, her daughter Linda and husband Sonny Grounds, son Joey Manduano and wife Nancy, and daughter Annette Manduano; also by her grandchildren Anthony and Jill Grounds, Shanny Grounds, Jamie and Sean Mundy, Hally Grounds, Anna Manduano, Lindsey Manduano and husband Pablo Diaz, and Tyler and Jeni Rouse. And by eighteen great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren. She is also survived by many loving nieces and nephews who supported and helped her throughout her long and full life.

At seventeen Fay moved from Stratford to Clifton, Arizona to improve her asthma. There she worked at the Coronado Inn. She loved the mountains and the cowboy spirit, going on roundups and mountain lion hunts. Mexico was close and she enjoyed going with her friends to party and dance.

Fay met Joe Manduano at the Coronado Inn while he was on leave from the Douglas Army Air Force Base in Arizona. They were married in 1942 and moved to Fresno, California, and soon after he was sent to Guam. They were together eleven years.

Fay and the four children eventually moved back to Stratford, Oklahoma. She continued to be the strong independent woman who had gone to Arizona as a teenager and been given the responsibility of managing a bar and its banking aspects.

Being a single mom most of her life, Fay worked the majority of the time. During the children's grade school years Linda assumed the responsibility of getting the other siblings up and to school. The loss of her son Anthony was extremely hard on Fay, and prompted the family move to Liberal, Kansas.

While working in Liberal, Fay met and later married Kenneth Bailey. The family moved to Guymon, Oklahoma, where the children finished high school. Fay and Kenneth were together five years.

After the children left home, Fay lived on Sonny and Linda's ranch. Helping on the ranch and being with her grandchildren was so much fun for her. When things got too calm, she would hunt and milk rattlesnakes!

Fay moved South of Flagstaff Arizona after several years on the ranch to manage the restaurant at the Pinewood Country Club. A few years later, she moved to Choctaw Oklahoma to be closer to family.

Fay's nieces and nephews in the Oklahoma City area helped her so much, and shared her love of gardening and especially sports. She was featured in the Daily Oklahoman for her support of the Thunder Team and for baking them some of her famous apricot fried pies!

Fay ultimately moved to the Texas Panhandle for the final years of her life. Being near family and the ranch allowed for more frequent visits, which she looked forward to with much anticipation and enjoyment.

At 101 years of age Fay's health deteriorated and she passed away on July 20, 2022.

A matriarch beloved for the aphorisms she used throughout her life - "Hotter than a $3 pistol!" and the ultimate "They couldn't find their ass with a search warrant!" - and loved as well for all she had seen and done in her amazing lifetime.

Fay was a fastidious dresser, gregarious, witty, intelligent ("street-smart" as she would say), and ultimately a gypsy at heart - always on the move. She will be remembered lovingly by those she touched and knew. There was no one like this red head, and she will be sorely missed.