Walter Osbra Bailey, Jr. of Mesa, Arizona, died Thursday evening, May 17, 2018, after suffering a massive stroke. Walt had been battling severe health problems for several months, but faced them with unflagging courage and never lost his sense of humor and wit.
He is survived by his wife, Judith Marian (Putnam) Bailey; by three sons and their families: Richard Scott and his wife Denise Nikcevich, Christopher Nelson, and Gregory Emmett, his wife Brenda Martinez and their three children, Nicholas Emmett, Stephen Gregory and Sophia Elise; by his brothers Thomas Edward and Jack Douglas, and their families; and by his sister, Deborah Louise Bailey.
Walt was born on February 27, 1938, in Oil City, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1959, he served two years in the Navy. Walt and Judy were married in 1961, and he joined the General Electric Company. He worked on the Apollo program in Florida, and simultaneously participated in the GE Advanced Engineering Doctoral Program through the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn and earned a Masters degree in System Science. By the end of his career, he was doing consulting work, developing customized user information networks for clients including General Motors, Met Life and Scottsdale Health Care.
In his teens, Walt helped his father build their family home in Ann Arbor. Years later, with the help of his own boys, Walt built a cabin in northern Arizona which the family enjoyed for many years. Walt played the piano and tuba, and sang (tenor) with numerous choral groups. He enjoyed traveling – favorites were railroading through the Rockies and small ship cruising on the Erie Canal. After retiring, Walt wrote his autobiography, delved into genealogy, and wrote biographies of his father and grandfather Bailey, and a history of the earliest Baileys in his family from 1597 to 1926.
The family plans to hold a remembrance and celebration of life service in Mesa, Arizona, at a future date yet to be determined.
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