Margaret Gayle Bond Conrad

Margaret Gayle Bond Conrad, age 87, died on Wednesday, July 24, 2019, in Austell, Georgia. Before moving to Georgia in 2008, Gayle lived 50 years in Laurel, Mississippi, and always considered Laurel her home. Gayle was born Margaret Gayle Waterbury in Silver Creek, Nebraska, on January 24, 1932. She was a child during World War II and assisted her mother as a Doughnut Dolly to provide coffee and doughnuts to soldiers passing through on trains. During high school she took flying lessons with the Civil Air Patrol. Gayle graduated as a registered nurse from St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing, Denver, Colorado. After graduation she worked at the hospital, where she met her future husband, Douglas R. Bond, Jr. During the marriage Gayle and Douglas were blessed with three children and in 1958 moved to Douglas’ family hometown of Laurel. After being widowed in 1963, Gayle remained in Laurel and worked hard as a nurse to raise her children, making certain they were healthy and well educated. In this effort she was supported by her mother-in-law and father-in-law, Betty and Duddie Bond. In 2000 Gayle married John Earl Conrad, who passed that same year. She moved to Georgia in 2008 to be near her daughter Lizabeth. Gayle was a communicant of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Laurel, where she taught children’s Sunday school. She served as a volunteer at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art. She was always quite proud of Laurel’s history of support for the arts. She worked at Jones County Community Hospital in Laurel and as a private-duty and home health agency nurse. In 1977 she received a Bachelor degree in art education from the University of Southern Mississippi. She then taught art, English, and TAG (talented and gifted) in Bay Springs and Laurel for a number of years. She was a talented artist as well. After her teaching career she returned to nursing. Gayle was a strong, independent woman who was admired and respected by family, friends, and fellow Laurel residents. Family history holds that she was the first Laurel resident to paint her home green. Gayle was preceded in death by her parents, Harold Waterbury and Amy Brown, brother Lee Waterbury, sister Lois Brennan, and aunt Marguerite Waterbury. She is survived by children April Bond Fowler (James), Douglas R. Bond, III (Deanie), and Lizabeth Bond McClain (Michael). She is also survived by sisters-in-law Shirley Davis, Barbara Ann Mostert, and Sarah Woodson, brother-in-law James Frederick Bond, and many nieces and nephews. Visitation will be held at Memory Chapel on Thursday, August 1, 2019, from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Funeral services will be held on Friday, August 2, 2019, at 2:00 pm at St. John’s Episcopal Church with The Very Reverend Jeffrey W. Reich officiating. Burial will follow at Hickory Grove Cemetery in Laurel. In lieu of flowers the family requests that friends please honor Gayle’s wish that memorial donations be made to the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art. https://www.lrma.org/support/tribute-and-memorial-gifts/ To sign the online guest book, visit www.memorychapellaurel.com.

Margaret Gayle Bond Conrad

January 24, 1932 - July 24, 2019