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2009 News Articles › Garrett Dixon “Dick” Bailey, 81, Burnsville
Garrett Dixon “Dick” Bailey, 81, Burnsville
Article Date: Friday, April 10, 2009
Written By: Russell Rawlings
Dick Bailey |
Garrett Dixon “Dick” Bailey of Burnsville, a 1998 inductee into the North Carolina Bar Association’s General Practice Hall of Fame, died April 10. He was 81 years old.
The obituary below originates from the Web site of Holcombe Brothers Funeral Home in Burnsville.
Garrett Dixon “Dick” Bailey, 81, died unexpectedly at his home on the morning of Good Friday, April 10, 2009. Born at his parents’ home in Burnsville, except for education and military service, Mr. Bailey lived his entire life in Yancey County. He is survived by his wife of fifty-two years: the former Mary Bowman of Huntington, WV; his daughter: Elizabeth Williams, who resides in Madison County, and his son: Todd Bailey of Burnsville. In addition to his immediate family, he is survived by his youngest sister: Lucy B. Gardner of Carnesville, GA, and numerous nieces, nephews, and grandnephews, with whom he enjoyed visiting at the annual Bailey Reunions each summer, explaining their descent from ancestors including “Yellow Jacket” John Bailey, whose land established the county seat of Burnsville in Yancey County.
Mr. Bailey’s parents: Garrett Dewease Bailey and Lala Dixon Bailey, predeceased him, as did his sisters: Martha Siler Kilpatrick, Mary D. Pate, and Buena Ellen Wilson.
He was a graduate in political science from Berea College and received his law degree from Wake Forest College, where he was a member of Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity. He was a veteran of service during World War II with the Coast Guard, and during the Korean Conflict he served as a First Lieutenant with the legal department of the Army. He began his practice in association with William E. Anglin and practiced in the same building for over fifty years. At various points he enjoyed professional associations with Gerald Wilson, Staunton Norris, Warren Hughes and, finally with his son, working his last full day last Thursday. He was interested in the careers of colleagues who did not work with him, many of whom were wards in what came to be known as “Dick’s mentor program”. Mr. Bailey served several years on the State Bar Disciplinary Commission and two terms as Councilor for the 24th District Bar. He was inducted into the (North Carolina) Bar Association’s General Practice Hall of Fame in 1998.
Like his father, also an attorney, Mr. Bailey participated politically through the Republican Party and served in the ’60s as a GOP leader for what was then the 11th Congressional District. He enjoyed arguing politics with his Democrat friends as much or more as working with his Republican associates, and in fact his career was undoubtedly aided by his enjoyment in arguing almost any side of any matter. His early civic participation included membership in the Lions Club and through the years he participated in many civic ventures. In more recent years his attention was focused almost exclusively on his church and the Parkway Playhouse. As a young man he acted on the stage of the Parkway Playhouse in its first year of production, and later served on the board of directors of that institution, now in its sixty-third year, from which he retired in 2002 as Director Emeritus. He served numerous terms as a deacon in the First Baptist Church, still serving in that capacity when he died. With many other beloved church leaders he worked to build a new church dedicated in 1969 and through last Sunday he taught the adult men’s class, which was named “the Dick Bailey Sunday School Class.”
Mr. Bailey’s professional career spanned almost fifty-eight years, and in addition to an office practice with real estate, probate, and other matters, he actively engaged in trial work in civil and criminal proceedings principally in many of the state and federal courts in Western North Carolina, as well as appellate proceedings. In the tradition of a mountain lawyer, as his practice narrowed in later years, his stories and tales lengthened, and he enjoyed talking about all matters of historical interest.
Mr. Bailey will be missed by his family who thank all his friends and colleagues for their respect and support of him. A memorial service will be conducted at the First Baptist Church in Burnsville at Noon on Monday, April 13, 2009, with the Reverend Richard L. Muri officiating. The family will receive friends in the church sanctuary from 10:00 A.M. until shortly before the service.
In lieu of flowers the family has requested memorial contributions to the First Baptist Church of Burnsville, P. O. Box 425, Burnsville, NC 28714, or the Parkway Playhouse, P. O. Box 1532, Burnsville, NC 28714, or any other favored charity in need of support.