Lawrence “John” Bailey III, age 58, of Miles City passed away on Friday, June 23, 2017 at Saint Vincent Hospital in Billings, Montana
Lawrence “John” Bailey III was born on March 31, 1959 to Lawrence J. Bailey Jr. and Shirley A. Bailey in Miles City, Montana. John was the oldest of three children. His parents lived and farmed on the Shirley Flats between Miles City and Terry until the fall of 1961. The family moved to Siloam Springs, Arkansas where his dad “Jr” became a truck driver full time and their mom was the stay-at-home parent. John became a big brother to sister Yvonne the following summer and to Beth six years later.
John enjoyed being with his uncles Bill and Don Bailey when they went to their grandparent’s farm. He liked to be around the baby cows and being spoiled by grandma.
Be began attending the special education classes at the Sunshine School in Vaughn, Arkansas. He participated in his first Special Olympics in 1975 with his classmates. The family moved when their dad was transferred to Indiana and while living there, John graduated in 1977 from McCutcheon High School. Later that year John started working at the Wabash Center in Lafayette until his dad’s death in October of 1978.
John’s mom moved the family back to Siloam Springs to be near their paternal grandparents and John started working at the Adult Development Center. Five years later the family moved to Montana to be near his maternal grandmother and settled in Miles City. He attended Eastern Montana Industries and most recently resided at the Hafla Group Home and Gordon Group Home.
John always greeted the people he saw, usually just saying “Hi, I’m John Bailey”. He was hardly ever ignored by anyone. He could read name tags when he went shopping or out to eat and greeted that person by name.
John liked classic car shows and could name many of the vehicles he saw. His greatest passion was collecting Hot Wheel and Matchbox cars. He liked songs by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, the Partridge Family and other similar music. He enjoyed movies and TV shows from the 70’s and 80’s and would watch reruns as many times as he could.
John was preceded in death by his parents Lawrence and Shirley Bailey Jr., grandparents: Opal Landreth and Lawrence and Alpha Bailey. He is survived by his sisters: Yvonne (Steve) Jacobs and Beth (Jim) Gruba, as well as his aunts, uncles and many cousins.
Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, June 27, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. at Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home in Miles City. Interment will follow in the Custer County Cemetery. Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home of Miles City is in charge of the arrangements
Ed and Becky Gergen says
Sorry to hear that your brother passed. He was very friendly and outgoing.
Eileen and Vern Entzel says
Sorry to hear about your brother. You are in our thoughts and prayers
carol mccoy says
So sorry to hear about John. I will always remember his smile and that he always greeted everyone with a big hug. He was a wonderful person.
Dannette Cremer says
Yvonne, so sorry to hear of John’s passing. You had a lot of good years with him. I’m sure you will miss him greatly – you were a great sister to him! Keep his memory close to your heart
Don and Joyce Bailey says
John will always have a special place in my heart. I’m just sorry that we were so far apart these last years so we didn’t get to see each other.