Robert Bruce Bailey

The Patriarch of our family and the last of his Bailey generation has left us in his 93rd year. Bruce’s remarkably long life was spent in Alberta, first as the youngest son of a prominent dairy family near Edmonton, and then as a Professional Geologist graduating from U of A (BSc Honours) in 1948. For the next thirty years, Bruce pursued a vibrant and significant career in the golden era of oil and gas in Calgary until his retirement from corporate life when he decided to try his hand as a geological entrepreneur.

Working on his own created many intellectual challenges for Bruce whether he was sitting on a Board of Directors or as an investor in an industry he loved. Bruce was a natural athlete and his love for the game of golf afforded him many years of travel, competitive play and leadership in the Royal Canadian Golf Association.

He was most defined however, by his role as the consummate family man, protective father and provider; devoted to his wife Shirley (nee Atkinson) of 66 years, and integral to the lives of his children, Colleen, Robert, Kim and their families. Bruce is predeceased by a daughter Lyndsay Jean in 1984 and survived by six grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Bruce’s memory lives on in the enduring love of his family for everything he was; most especially for his delight in music, his joy in a well-manicured lawn and a freshly tilled rectangle of loam ready for planting, the mischievous fun of feeding beloved family pets from the table, and his appreciation of the eloquence of the unspoken word. Nothing can replace him in our hearts.

By request there will be no funeral service. Cremation has taken place and a gathering in Bruce’s memory is planned for later in the year.