Raymond Ray Wheat Bailey

Raymond Wheat Bailey was born in Ferndale WA January 29, 1916 to parents Jessie Guy and Mabel Emily Bailey. It was the storm of the decade. The doctor came to the house for the delivery and had to stay the night because there was so much snow. His mother remained in a coma for several weeks and baby Ray and 4 year old sister, Lois were taken by sled to their grandmother’s house until their mother was strong enough to care for them. They lived on an 80 acre milk farm bordered by the Nooksack River on the north. This was during WWI. It was difficult to find help due to so many men leaving for military duty. It finally became too much for his dad to handle, and the family moved to Seattle where his dad was eventually hired on at Seattle Gas Company. Three years later his brother Glenn was born.

Ray attended McDonald Elementary School, John Marshall Jr. High and Roosevelt High School. He always dreamed of playing sports at Roosevelt, but had to forfeit that dream because it was the depression and he felt an obligation to have a part time job to help with the family finances. His paper route paid $12 a month. However, he found an outlet for his love of basketball at the Green Lake field house.

Ray graduated from Roosevelt in 1935 and started looking for full time work. Thanks to his sister, Lois, he got the opportunity to work in the mail room at Northern Optical in downtown Seattle. Shortly after he started, he was moved to the surfacing room where he learned to grind lenses. With this job, he was able to buy his mother the best washing machine that Sears and Roebuck had to offer.

His mother was a great influence on his life, insisting on his regular attendance in Sunday school at Green Lake Methodist Church. It was here that he spotted Emily Soehle, who would eventually become his beloved wife and lifetime companion. In fact she was the girl he was smitten with at Roosevelt but didn’t have the nerve to approach. After a 2 ½ year courtship, on October 11, 1940, Ray married Emily, the love of his life, in that same church. They immediately moved into the house that he built on Woodlawn Ave. He paid $500 cash for the property and never had a mortgage payment. Two years later, Albert Guy was born and sixteen months later Emily gave birth to a daughter, Patricia Emily, who Ray lovingly called L’il ol Paps. In June of 1945, Ray was called into the army and sent to Germany. It was here that he went to Optical School, which was pretty easy because he already knew most of the things being taught. However, he ended up working in the Postal Exchange, not the Optical Dept, but he really enjoyed that job. Upon returning from the war in July of 1946, Ray and Emily resumed married life and the raising of their family.

Ray always dreamed of having a civil service job with good pay and a pension. So he was really thrilled when in December of 1947, he was hired on as a regular sub for the USPS. At the same time he bought some optical equipment and opened the first office of Woodlawn Optical in the basement of their home. His son-in-law, Fred Cook, joined the business in 1970 at which time he moved the store to Wedgewood, eventually growing to four stores. He worked for the post office for 32 years and retired in 1979.

Even though he held down two jobs, he was a devoted family man. He enjoyed scouting and fishing with Al, encouraging Patty in her piano and dance lessons, teaching her the game of chess, family picnics at Denny and Woodlawn Parks and Idle Wild on Lake Sammamish. His vacation time was spent with extended family at Hood Canal and Whidbey Island. Every Sunday you could hear his tenor voice in the Green Lake Methodist choir where he was an active member until he and Emily moved away from the Green Lake neighborhood in 1973.

Ray always loved sports. As a youngster he played basketball at the Green Lake field house, soccer and softball at McDonald Grade School, handball outside Hec Edmondson Pavilion. Even though he and his friends had to walk 2- 4 miles to participate in these activities, they were all free, which was a bonus, as money was tight during these depression years. He remained actively involved in one sport or another well into his eighties – golfing at Jackson Golf Course, pitching horse shoes at Woodlawn Park and Cristwood Retirement Center, and bowling at Robin Hood Lanes. He bowled his highest game at age 83, an impressive 264. Even though he only played flag football as a kid, he was one of the staunchest Husky Football fans, a season ticket holder from 1957 to 1999. He was thrilled to have the opportunity to go to Pasadena for 1978 Rose Bowl.

Ray and Emily had a very active social life during their 68 years of marriage – church activities, monthly dances with the Tuxedo Dance Club, dining with potluck groups, cruising to the Caribbean Islands. He enjoyed many years in St. John Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, after much encouragement and support from his brother Glenn to join. This lead to his playing cornet in the Nile Temple Drum and Bugle Corps; something the two brothers shared together. But his greatest joy came from visits with his family and close friends. He never wanted to miss a family gathering. Just being around his grandchildren and great grandchildren brought a smile to his face. He also received much pleasure in writing letters to both new and old friends, something he did on a daily basis. It saddened him during the last year of his life, that he found he could no longer express his thoughts in writing and thus ceased this activity.

In 1999, Ray and Emily moved to Long Beach WA to be closer to their daughter and son-in-law. They lived near a paved path, and for the next 12 years, members of the community said they could set their clocks everyday by the little old man who walked this path through town. He loved smelling the ocean, observing deer, bear, coyotes, whales and eagles right outside his window.

Ray died on March 23, 2012, peacefully, gently, without fanfare - the same way he lead his life. He would want all his family and friends to know that he wasn’t perfect, but that he tried his best to lead a life of honest integrity, honoring his God, loving his family and friends.