George Bailey

George Ernest Bailey, 91, of Westminster and formerly of Thornton, died Monday, October 6, 2014 at his residence following several years of declining health. He was born the youngest of five children on March 8, 1923 in the small farming community of Menlo, Thomas County, Kansas to Charles Addison Bailey and Rose Ogier Bailey, both descended from Western Kansas pioneer homesteading families. He loved basketball and starred on his high school team. He attended Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, Kansas for two years before joining the Seabees in World War II’s Pacific Theater where he helped build the runway for the Enola Gay. After the war, George reentered Kansas Wesleyan where he met Doris Vivian Mosteller of Wichita, Kansas. George and Doris were married on December 27, 1947, the year George started his teaching and coaching career. In 1955, the Baileys moved to Denver where George attained a teaching position, and in 1956 he began a 33-year career at Thornton High School. The Baileys were also among the original residents of Thornton that year. George’s 1963 high school basketball team was one basket shy of the state championship, and when George retired in 1989, the school declared a “George Bailey Day” celebrating his 42-year teaching career.
During their early decades in Colorado, the family enjoyed camping and fishing in the mountains, where George also hunted. In their retirement, they traveled throughout the United States. George loved sports and was an avid Broncos fan. He enjoyed the team’s 41-20 victory against the Arizona Cardinals the day before his death, even though he was only able to listen due to a stroke the week before the game. Over the course of their marriage, the Baileys also loved their several dogs and cats.
In addition to his wife of almost 67 years, George is survived by his daughter, Sharyn Kay Bailey Corson and son-in-law Dan Corson of Boulder, granddaughter Laura-Claire Corson of Boulder, grandson Bailey Corson of Grand Junction, and beloved niece and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents, two brothers, and two sisters.
In lieu of flowers, George’s request was to consider a donation to a humane society or Dumb Friends League because of his love of animals.