Jerry Lee Bailey

Mr. Jerry Lee Bailey, 83, of Gahanna, Ohio, formerly of Cleveland and Canton, Ohio, passed away peacefully, Feb. 2, 2026, at the Storypoint Gahanna Assisted Living and Memory Care Facility after a long demise from dementia.

Born in Canton, August 27, 1942, Lee was a lifelong Ohioan (save 2 years he lived in Nashville, TN, in the late 70’s.) As a boy, Lee was an avid reader and a Boy Scout. Lee graduated Canton Lehman High School in 1960, where he excelled in English, wrote for the school paper and was a bench warmer on the Lehman Polar Bears Football team. Lee graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Journalism degree in 1965, after which he began his career as a newsman.

Lee worked in all facets of journalism: radio, newspaper, and television. Young Jerry was a paperboy for the Canton Repository. As an adult, Lee was a radio newsman and weatherman at WAKR AM1590. Lee was a beat reporter at the Akron Beacon Journal, where he met his first wife, Judith Craig.

From there, Lee made the leap to TV news, where he was a reporter at WEWS Channel 5 in Cleveland. At Channel 5, Lee made a name for himself. He was a pioneer in the field of investigative reporting. Lee was given a recurring segment on the evening news titled “Bailey at Large,” where he would dive deeply into the goings-on in Cleveland and northern Ohio. A highlight of Lee’s career was when he won the 1974 Emmy Award for Individual Achievement for the story “How Secure is Airport Security?,” where he posed as a delivery man and successfully snuck onto a 747 on the tarmac at Cleveland Hopkins Airport.

Lee eventually went behind the camera as the News Director at WEWS, Channel 5, Cleveland; WNGE, Channel 2, Nashville; then back to Cleveland at WKYC, Channel 3.

In 1983, Lee left the news business to begin the second phase of his career in Public Relations for the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, then Centerior Energy, from which Lee eventually retired.

Lee served on the boards of the Cleveland Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Cleveland Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.

In retirement, Lee served on the Gahanna Parks & Recreations Foundation council. Lee volunteered for the Melanoma Research Fund. Lee’s first wife, Judith, passed away from Melanoma cancer in 2003.

Upon Judie’s passing, Lee found solace and friendship through the “Grief Group” he attended at the Kobacker House hospice, where he met the next love of his life, Mary.

Lee was forever the newsman. He never met a story he didn’t want the world to know. Lee was not one to keep a secret. Lee was news junkie. He never missed the evening local and national TV news. And woe-be-upon the newspaper carrier who was late with his morning paper.

Lee loved his Ohio State Buckeyes. He was a past President of the OSU Greater Cleveland Alumni Association. He loved OSU Football, attending many games, watching the rest on TV, and listening to the game on the radio (in the 70s, 80s, and 90s not every OSU football game was on TV). Lee and Mary were wed in Ohio Stadium, aka The Shoe. Lee and Mary hosted many “Beat Michigan” watch parties.

In the 1980s, Lee was a member of the Brecksville Lions Club, which revived the dormant Brecksville Home Days, under the banner of “The Fair On the Square,” held every Fourth of July weekend. Lee, in his red-white-and-blue skimmer straw hat and matching jacket, served as the Master of Ceremonies for the Fair proceedings.

Lee loved music, especially 50’s Rock-n-Roll “golden oldies.” Lee knew the words to every song by Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and the like. Lee would sing along to the radio whenever it was on, and when the radio wasn’t on, he’d often interject (sing out!) lyrics into normal conversation.

When Lee was the Manager of News and Public Affairs at WNGE in Nashville, he chose Canadian musician Frank Mill’s song “Music Box Dancer,” as its news theme. The song became so popular with viewers that Polydor Records awarded a gold record to the station for breaking the single in the U.S. (Google “Frank Mills Music Box Dancer News Theme 1979 WNGE Nashville”)

Jerry Lee Bailey was a man of many names. He was “Jerry” to family and friends in Canton. His professional name was “J. Lee”, or simply “Lee.” To those he knew well, he went by a variety of nicknames: “Beetle,” “Bail,” “BailCat,” “Pops,” and ultimately “Bubba,” his nickname to his grandchildren and their friends.

Survivors include his wife of 18 years, Mary Rudge-Bailey of Gahanna; sons Josh Bailey (wife Alice) of Gahanna, Jeremy Bailey of Cleveland, grandchildren Tommy and Katie, step-son Colonel Travis Rudge, U.S. Army (wife Kelli) of Havre de Grace, Maryland, step-granddaughter Ashlyn, step-daughter Emily Rudge Revis (husband Brad) of Washington DC, numerous nephews and nieces, and extended family.

Lee was preceded in death by his mother and father Margaret and Dale Bailey, brother Glenn Bailey, sister-in-law Susan Schulz Bailey, and the first love of his life, wife Judith Craig Bailey.

Thank you to the caregivers at Storypoint Memory Care and Zusman Community Hospice.

Funeral service for Lee will be held at noon on Thursday, Feb. 12 at Schoedinger Northeast Chapel, 1051 East Johnstown Rd, Gahanna, Ohio, where the family will receive friends from 10 A.M. until the service. Reverend Scott Henderson, officiating.

Interment in Mifflin Township Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to:

Zusman Community Hospice (www.whv.org/donate/)

Melanoma Research Foundation (melanoma.org)