October 2, 2026
McDONOUGH, Ga. — Dr. Eugene (Gene) Dailey celebrated his 100th birthday last month, on Nov. 6. Salem Baptist Church, the church he has called home for more than 30 years, hosted the centennial birthday party for Dailey on Nov 8.
Dailey began his pastoral ministry while he was a student at Mercer University, serving three part-time churches at one time. Liberty Baptist Church in Irwinton had worship services on the second Sunday of each month; Geneva Baptist Church in Geneva met for worship on the third Sunday of each month; and Elam Baptist Church in Egypt designated the fourth Sunday as their day of worship.
Before moving to Kentucky to enroll as a student at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Dailey served as pastor of three additional part-time Georgia Baptist churches, including Pitts Baptist Church, Ellaville Baptist Church, and Butler Baptist Church in Butler.
Dailey served two part-time churches in Indiana during his seminary days: Hopewell Baptist Church in Holton and Flat Rock Baptist Church in Osgood.
After graduating from the seminary, he returned to Georgia to pastor First Baptist Church in Sparta and Beallwood Baptist Church in Columbus.
In January 1969, Dailey became the Brotherhood Director of the Georgia Baptist Convention, where he faithfully served for 22 years.
It was during his tenure with the Convention that the Executive Committee was authorized to negotiate the sale of Camp Glynn near Brunswick and purchase another camp site nearer a population center in the state. It was Dailey who told the committee, “Camp Glynn’s usable land is so small, and we don’t even have room for a ball field for Royal Ambassador boys. It is also far removed from the groups who use it the most.”
Dailey was instrumental in the sale of Campy Glynn and the acquisition of Camp Kaleo, a retreat center near Forsythe in the heart of Georgia.
Glen McCall, who served as the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s leader of Men’s Ministry and who followed Eugene Dailey and Ray Newman in that capacity, recalled, “Brother Dailey not only put his heart into the establishment of Camp Kaleo, but he would go down there to the site and perform laborious work to help get the camp operational.”
The Georgia Baptist Brotherhood Director was also a leader in the mission partnerships that had been developed by the Convention, including work in Panama, New York, and Liberia.
Regarding the work in Liberia, Dailey explained, “Perhaps the most rewarding, fulfilling ministry I ever had was to coordinate the Georgia Baptist/Liberia Baptist Partnership Missions Project. It was the first such partnership Georgia Baptist developed.”
On Dailey’s third trip to Liberia, he was joined by his wife Madalia. In fact, that is where they spent their 40th wedding anniversary. However, the purpose of their trip was to encourage and reinforce the work of the 70 missionaries stationed there at that time. While there, the Daileys also dedicated a bridge in Fahnja, which had been constructed by mission volunteers.
In February 2018, The Christian Index published a story about the Macedonia Call of Georgia and explained how Dailey helped spearhead that missionary support ministry that supplies vehicles to furloughing missionaries while they are stateside.
Jack Harwell, who was editor of The Christian Index during Dailey’s years of service via the GBC, wrote a tribute to him upon his retirement in which he stated, “Gene played a little golf, but his major vision was leading men and boys in the Great Commission.”
Dailey has outlived both of his wives, Madalia and his second wife, Sara.
Rich Statham, pastor of Salem Baptist Church where Dailey is still a member, commented, “Thirty years ago, when I came to Salem, I was 32 years old and sometime in the following year Gene and I went to lunch, and he asked if he might offer me a word of counsel. I said, ‘Absolutely.’
“He said, ‘I want you to remember that you’re a pastor, not a politician, and when addressing your people, you want to remember that.’
“He pointed out that in my sermons, I often said, ‘ladies and gentlemen.’ He suggested that I might use a word like ‘beloved’ or something similar. "
Statham added, “Well, from that day forward, ‘ladies and gentlemen’ was dropped from my preaching vocabulary, and I began to use the word ‘beloved’ when addressing the congregation that I’ve been privileged to pastor for 30 years now. When I first used the word ‘beloved’ long ago, it seemed a little awkward, but now it is an affectionate declaration of just who they are to me!
“Gene has been a great blessing to my wife, Miriam, and me over the years and often a source of encouragement!”
Dailey continues to be a meaningful representative of Christ as he enters his second century as a man with a profound faith and a fervent love for Christ.
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