She was born in Roanoke, VA, on August 29, 1993. She was a 2011 graduate of E.C. Glass High School and also proudly attended Brookville High School and New Covenant School. She took her Associates Degree from Central Virginia Community College in 2015 and also attended Virginia Commonwealth University.
She is survived by her mother and stepfather, Cathy and Phil Beeson of Lynchburg; her father Braze Gilmore of Charlotte, NC; four sisters, Stephanie Shante Figgatt and her husband Brian, Rebecca Joanne Beeson and her fiancé Zach Etzel, twin sisters Jana Celeste Beeson and Brett Elena Beeson; one brother, Alexander Winston Rock Beeson; her maternal grandparents, Everette and Lynn Mason; one niece, Josephine Figgatt; two nephews, Harrison Figgatt and Jackson Figgatt; and friend/sister Wendy Adams.
A service celebrating her life will be conducted at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, February 6, 2021 at Thomas Road Baptist Church with Pastor Tony Mitchell officiating.
The service will be livestreamed and can be viewed at https://watch.trbc.org/media/t/1_i193t3tq.
The family will receive friends at Thomas Road Baptist Church for one hour prior to the service.
The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to Patrick Henry Family Services, 1621 Enterprise Dr, Lynchburg, VA 24502, www.patrickhenry.org.
Jordan was a light, a shooting star, a meteor of starshine and wonder; she was the whole constellation encaptured in one smile. Words cannot begin to adequately describe Jordan, JoJo, JBster, Fifi, and Jo Bailey, the physical embodiment of 21st century Renaissance. She loved all genres of music. She could recite the lyrics to each Beatles song better than Paul McCartney, and she played the piano joyfully. In true Jordan fashion, her most recent musical achievement was her rendition of “Charlie Brown’s Christmas Carol,” which she gleefully offered to her family come December. She had her own unique, expressive fashion sense and style, from ballgowns and Audrey Hepburn, to leather jackets, pink wigs, tattered Thanksgiving childhood mementos, to…… well, let’s just say, “different.” She was athletic and loved to play volleyball, roller skate, and ride bikes. She had immersed herself in every aspect of the food industry, including the roles of waitress, hostess, chef, sous chef, bartender and… whatever else the culinary world offered. Her intellectual curiosity, much like everything else, ran the gamut. She loved knowledge and trivia of every sort: languages, museums, art, history, politics, logic, crossword puzzles, debates, and, and, and….
Jordan Bailey’s true passion, however, was love. She lived to love and loved to live. Every moment of her life was spent meeting, studying, encouraging, and loving people, including her family, friends, roommates, teammates, co-workers, mall attendants, passersby on the sidewalk, the homeless and hungry, the guy with the bubbles in the park.... Jo truly never met a stranger. She was the master of cell phone photos and videos, and she documented a lifetime of love, hugs, and laughter. She was the highest ranked favorite sister. She was the unrivalled favorite aunt; she was the best receiver of gifts. Give the woman a crumpled napkin, and her face would have lit up with gratitude.
However, Jordan worked hard at these skills; while others may have valued paper degrees and awards, she devoted her life to the art of kindness. She was very intentional and diligent in her self-ascribed practice. She lived her life like Christ—she knew in her heart that every person’s life was important, was cherished, and was to be treated with respect and dignity.
Jordan was our daughter, our granddaughter, our sister, our aunt. She was our friend, our teammate, our schoolmate, our student; our inspiration, our muse; on some days our greatest source of frustration, but always our greatest source of joy.
She will be missed – badly.
