For more than a century, Haliburton’s Cec Bailey lived life to the fullest.
The Second World War veteran passed away Dec. 4 aged 101. His daughter, Pearl Wood, said Bailey suffered a fall at a care home in Gananoque on Nov. 18, injuring his hip. He was rushed for emergency surgery, which Wood said was successful, though Bailey never recovered his strength.
He had moved to Gananoque from the Gardens of Haliburton in August. Wood said it was one of the few times in his life that Bailey resided outside of Haliburton County.
“He was starting to need a little more care, coming into his 101st year, so we looked into where he could go. There were nine options, but thankfully he ended up in Gananoque, which is where I live,” Wood said. “I got to see him every day after he moved here.”
She said her dad was suffering with a chest infection in the days leading up to his death.
He moved to Haliburton as a teenager in the 1930s, relocating from the city with his family. His father, W.O. Bailey, operated the sawmill in town throughout Cec’s formative years.
Mike Waller, president of the Haliburton Legion, said he met Bailey about 15 years ago.
“He had some great stories, especially about growing up in Haliburton. When he was younger, Cec used to take his dad’s car all the time,” Waller said. Driving a luxury 1939 Chrysler Royal, word always got back to Bailey’s father.
“He’d tell me about how frustrated his dad would get – he didn’t know what to do, so, one day, he decided to take the distributor cap off every night so that it wouldn’t drive,” Waller said. “So, Cec would go down the street to a neighbour’s car, borrow that distributor cap and put it on his dad’s car so he could take it out.”
Bailey, who served in Europe from 1942 to 1945, was a staple at the Legion for years. Waller said he was a fixture at the Friday night meat draw every week well into his 90s.
Only 15 when the Second World War began, Bailey watched as his older brother, Merrill, and several of-age friends enlisted. He wrote them regularly and, four years later, followed in his brother’s footsteps when signing up for the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Bailey was a crash tender, driving an ambulance during missions in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. He participated in the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, part of the forces who took Juno Beach.
Wood said her dad didn’t share many of his war stories – he never considered himself a hero, saving that distinction for his brother who flew in 19 missions before his plane was shot down and he became a Prisoner of War (PoW). The pair were reunited in 1945, once the war ended.
After returning to Canada, Bailey returned to the family home in Eagle Lake and went to work for his father. He met his wife, Irene, at the old Golden Slipper dance hall. The pair were married in 1949 and had two children – Wood and Clark Bailey, who died in 1990.
After the sawmill closed, Bailey took lots of odd jobs around the County. He got into construction, working with Don McFadden, and also spent time as a custodian at Hal High. While Bailey liked people, Wood said, he was happiest working alone. He specialized in home construction – building every house he ever lived in.
“He liked to call himself a jack of all trades, master of none. He did a lot of stonework – he built the wall that still stands today by [Halco Plaza],” Wood said. “He liked it best when he was his own boss and could work to his own schedule.”
He was lively right until the end – Wood said staff at his new care home told her how he’d dance with them daily, using only his arms, and was always quick to crack a joke. While he was in the hospital for his hip surgery, he constantly had the nurses and doctors chuckling, she said.
“He was my last parent, my dad. We didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but I’ll really miss him.”
Wood said her father has been cremated. She plans to bury him at St. Stephen’s Cemetery, beside her mother, in Algonquin Highlands next spring. There will also be a celebration of life at the Haliburton Legion.
