FELTON - Edna Bakley died in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Tuesday, March 8, 2016, at the age of 87. Mrs. Bakley was born January 15, 1929, in East Orange, New Jersey, daughter of Edna Palladino and Charles Picciuti. Honorably discharged from the U.S. Air Force in 1956, she became the bride of Edward Bakley. Mr. Bakley's contracting business brought them to Delaware in 1958, and they settled in Felton. Mr. Bakley retired in 1990, and died in 2001. The Bakleys were actively involved in the church congregations of both St. Paul's Episcopal, Camden, and St. Stephen's Episcopal, Harrington. Mr. Bakley served on each church's vestry, and Mrs. Bakley formed youth groups in both congregations, most notably at St. Stephen's Youth Canteen, which was frequented by young people from surrounding towns. As a paraprofessional in Felton School District, Mrs. Bakley served in elementary, junior, and senior classrooms. Her passion for involving children in education fueled the spearheading of the formation of a citizen's group, which eventually established the first Head Start Program in the area. Mrs. Bakley enjoyed people and thrived on working with and among them. Employment in the Dover advertising departments of both the Delaware State News and News Journal; Assistant to the Methodist Peninsula's Director of Christian Education, Wesley College Campus; and Dover Country Day School provided the environment in which her abilities were best utilized. As the opening manager of the Card-O-Rama Hallmark store in Rodney Village from 1969 to 1977, Mrs. Bakley hired numerous high school students from the area. Volunteer activities also were youth oriented and included DAPI, the Governor's appointment to service on the Foster Home Care Review Board, and a 7-year service in classrooms at William Henry Middle School in the Foster Grandparent Program from which she retired in 2009. Mrs. Bakley is survived by a daughter, Pamela Bakley Clement and husband, Paul, of Albuquerque, N.M.; a son, Robert Bakley of Dover; and three grandchildren, Kyle Preisen of Albuquerque, N.M.; and Rachel and Jason Bakley of Camden; and numerous close friends. Cremation has taken place. Mrs. Bakley's final resting spot is, in accordance with her explicit wishes, at the crest of the Sandia Mountains, Albuquerque, N.M. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you celebrate the memory of her life by reading to or educating a child; affecting another person's life in any positive way; or making a donation to any children's charity.