Bailey, Erwin From www.Oregonnews.com
Erwin "Curly" L. Bailey
BAILEY, Erwin "Curly" L. - 89 of Sutherlin passed away Thursday, December 28, 2000 in a Roseburg care home. He was born March 7, 1911 in Bridgeport, Nebraska, eighth of eleven children, to David O. and Asenath (Hammond) Bailey. On December 20, 1931 in Sutherlin he married Doris Bratton. The Bailey's moved to Florida. In 1961 they moved from Florida back to Sutherlin. Mr. Bailey worked as a millwright for Evans Products until he retired at the age of 58. he also taught welding at Roseburg High School while UCC was being built. Mr. Bailey also enjoyed building, repairing, and making things and writing poety. Survivors include his wife, Doris Bailey of Sutherlin; daughter Darlene Farrar of Belleville, Illinois and LeeEllen Cooper of Cottage Grove, sons Arvid Bailey of Rogers, Arkansas and Dade Bailey of San Padre Island, Texas; sister Freda Martin of Spokane, Washington; 21 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildre, great-great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Mr Bailey was preceded in death by his son Lelan Bailey in 1965, four sisters and five brothers. At the family's request, no services will be held. Private cremation rites will be held. CHAPEL OF THE FIRS is in charge of arrangement. (the following was added by LeeEllen Cooper 1/17/2001)
Unfortunately, the funeral home and/or newspaper left out a lot of years of my father's life. After they were married in Oregon, my parents moved to California where my dad worked for Libby's canneries in Selma and Sacramento. My brother Arvid and sister Darlene were born in Sacramento. My dad also worked for Libby's in kent and WallaWalla, Washington. My brother Dade was born in WallaWalla. Then my folks moved to Missouri and bought the old Bailey farm in Quincy where my dad lived as a boy. They moved to Kansas City where my dad worked for Pratt & Whitney during the War, and later for Quisinbery (sp.) Feeds at May Milling Company in Dodson, a suburb of Kansas City. That's where I enter the story; my little brother Lanny and I were born in Kansas City. In the mid-fifies, Daddy repossessed the old family farm because the buyer wasn't keeping up payments and we moved to the country. By that time, my sister was in college and my brother in the Navy. We built a new house on the farm and sold it, moved to another farm over in Cedar county, remodelled the house there, sold it, and finally moved to Florida. My aunt Myrtle lived there and my dad was tired of cold winters. But we were only there one school year before moving to Oregon; we didn't like the humidity and hurricanes. Besides my mother's parents still lived in Sutherlin and Mamma wanted to be near them as they were getting old. So, there is an additional thirty years to what they put in the obit.