Waide Arden Bailey, a longtime Newberg-Dundee School District employee, passed away at the age of 84 on Dec. 23.
Bailey was a well-known local figure, a robust, vibrant man who served in the U.S. Marines, worked on a farm, hunted and fished in the great outdoors, and raised his two children with his wife of 57 years, Libbie. But most people in the School District don’t know about all that. They know Bailey as the retired Maintenance Supervisor for the School District, the lively jokester who worked for the district for more than 25 years, retiring in 2013.
“He so loved working at the schools and hated that he had to retire,” Libbie wrote in a Jan. 4 email. “Everyone who worked with him was special.”
His co-workers remember him as the one who was special, including the family members he saw on the job. Whenever he had to fix something at Ewing Young Elementary, for example, he visited with his niece, Third-Grade Teacher Stephanie Wiard.
“If he came to a building, it wasn’t just to do the maintenance, it was also to check on people,” Wiard said.
She also noted that he had a great sense of humor and loved pranks. Coordinator of Operations in Facilities Tracy Lozada found Bailey’s jokey nature and big heart unforgettable. Back when she was the Facilities Assistant, she remembers his goofy friendship with former Custodial Supervisor Scott Woods. Their offices were next door to each other.
Bailey installed a tiny wooden door in their shared wall and would call out to Woods to see what he was up to. After Bailey had knee surgery, he came into work and filled a tiny paper cup with glue, settled into his desk chair, and called out to Woods through the little door, who came running. As soon as Woods rushed in, Bailey was ready.
“Scott, can you help me get this pus out of my knee?” asked Bailey, holding the paper cup next to his knee and squeezing the glue out abruptly. It horrified Woods and then made him laugh.
Larry Hampton also remembers Bailey’s sense of humor. Hampton served as the Coordinator of Operations and Safety, retiring this year in that role but continuing to supervise the district’s bond work. Hampton said that the Physical Plant, where Bailey had his home office, used to display signs with Bailey’s picture and declarations of “Waide’s Law.” One of the Maintenance Supervisor’s signs said: “There’s no problem that can’t be fixed with brute force and a big hammer.”
His neighbor, Lesley Carsley, said that she also enjoyed Bailey’s sense of humor. Yet, as someone who worked in the School District as an administrator, what impressed her deeply was that she could radio “Maintenance One,” Bailey, for support, and always get a swift response.
“He was always Johnny on the Spot if you had a need in your building,” she wrote on Bailey’s Tribute Wall on the Attrell’s Newberg Funeral Chapel website. “We just would get on the radio and say, ‘Edwards Base to Maintenance One,’ to which he would respond, ‘Maintenance One.’
It seemed like Maintenance One could fix anything (with the right amount of elbow grease and the best tool) and always made time for everyone.
Unfortunately, there is never enough of it, and time is one problem that Bailey couldn’t fix. Just like we all do, he had to fade away to another world. But such a powerful, spirited person as Bailey, someone so devoted to others, won’t soon be forgotten in this world.
“Kind, kind man, quiet spirit, had a great sense of spirit, loved his family dearly, would do anything for anybody. … Maintenance One is now clear of mind and free of pain,” Carsley wrote.
If you want to say goodbye to Bailey, there will not be a public service, but you may share a favorite Bailey story on Attrell’s Newberg Funeral Chapel website.