Article from the Wednesday

Article from the Wednesday, October 1, 2003 edition of the Birmingham News, Birmingham, Alabama

Shelby's George Dailey dies at 75

By Nancy Wilstach
News staff writer

    George Dailey, Shelby County's first black county commissioner, died Monday at the Baptist Medical Center-Princeton, where he was undergoing rehabilitation following strokes, pneumonia and heart trouble.
    Mr. Dailey, 75, was a retired administrator in the Shelby County school system. He had served on the County Commission since 1990 and was its only Democrat along-side eight Republicans.
    In his tenure on the commission, Mr. Dailey was responsible for getting treated water to residents of the Creswell community whose household wells were contaminated. He also worked for grants and county money to extend a sewer line to the Almont community outside Montevallo.
    Although he was brought up in an era of strict racial segregation, Mr. Dailey could move easily in any group. He frequently asked penetrating questions of those petitioning the County Commission.
    "Usually, you never knew how George was going to vote until he voted." said County Commission Chairman Dan Acker. "But if he told you he would do something, you could count on it. He expected the same in return."
    Under state law, the governor may appoint someone to fill Mr. Dailey's commission seat.
    Mr. Dailey often joked that he had three diplomas from the same school, but each bore a different institutional name. He earned an under-graduate degree from Alabama State Teachers College for Negroes and advanced degrees from Alabama State Teachers College and Alabama State University.

    Active in the Alabama Democratic Conference and chairman of the Shelby County Democratic Conference, Mr. Dailey worked with the late Montevallo Mayor Ralph Sears to divide the city into districts that ensured the election of a black City Council member. Mr. Dailey joined the council as its first black member in 1984.
    Montevallo Mayor Grady Parker served on the council with Mr. Dailey and remembers him as "good all the way through ... He was a good person to have on your committee, because he could work well with anyone."
    Jewel Dailey met her husband, a native of Monroe County, at a teachers' orientation session in Alabaster when both were hired to teach at the Shelby County Training School, a formerly all-black high school.
    Mr. Dailey taught history and mathematics and coached the school's basketball team, Mrs. Dailey said. Later, he served as principal. With desegregation, he became assistant principal at Montevallo High School and then moved to an administrative position in the central office.
    Besides his wife, Mr. Dailey is survived by two daughters and five grandchildren.
    A public memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at Montevallo Middle School, with family rites and burial in Monroe County.

NOTE: Reference last paragraph, family rites and burial were held at the Stallworth Cemetery, Atmore, Escambia County.