Sunday, July 6, 2008
Helen Elizabeth Bailey, 101, a homemaker and family matriarch, died June 4 at her farm in Compton. She had complications
from a broken leg. Mrs. Bailey, whose maiden name was Meenehan, was born in Washington and moved to County Mayo,
Ireland, when she was 4. She returned to Washington in 1921 and graduated from Central High School. She attended what
is now Strayer University and held secretarial jobs with the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. and the Civil Service
Commission until 1944.
She lived jointly in Washington and on the family farm, called Guest Point Farm, until 1977, when she moved permanently to the
farm in St. Mary's County. She enjoyed fishing, crabbing, working in her garden and playing cards with her grandchildren.
Mrs. Bailey volunteered with AARP and was an auxiliary member of the U.S. Power Squadrons, a boating safety organization.
She lived independently until shortly before she died and retained, in the words of a daughter, "an intense curiosity about life."
Her husband of 65 years, John D. Bailey Sr., died in 2000.
Survivors include five children, John D. Bailey Jr. of Mechanicsville, Paul Bailey of Compton, Linda Nottingham of Fairfax County,
Mary Solomon of Victorville, Calif., and Daniel Bailey of Frederick; a brother, Frank Meenehan of Chevy Chase; six
grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.
-- Matt Schudel