Guy Loey Bailey, Jr., aged 90 years, died on April 26, 2021 in Pinehurst. Guy was a salesman, a singer, a raconteur, and the life of every party he attended.
A native North Carolinian, Guy often said “I was born in my mama’s pantaloons” on the way to the hospital in Whiteville in November 1930. He was raised in Fair Bluff by his parents, Orpah Koonce and Guy Loey Bailey. Guy was predeceased by his infant son Guy Bailey III, his sister Sarah Moore, and his grandson Guy Preston Bailey. He is survived by his wife, Barbara Gray Bailey (Pinehurst, NC), his sister Miriam Nicholson and her husband Henry Nicholson (Morehead City, NC), his children: Miriam Ward and her husband Brendan Ward (Montclair, NJ), Guy L. Bailey IV (Southern Pines, NC), Gray Bailey (Charleston, SC), and Orpah Blanton and her husband Ronnie Blanton (Charlotte, NC); his grandchildren: Grace Crawford (Pinehurst, NC), Paul Ward (Montclair, NJ), David Ward (New York, NY), Blake Bailey (Port St. Lucie, FL), Mackey Leventis (Charleston, SC), and Hannah-Gray Bailey (Charleston, SC); his great-grandchildren, George Crawford and Wade Crawford; as well as three nieces and three nephews.
Guy is also survived by an entire generation of people who grew up with his children and remember him with great love. He entertained, encouraged, and conveyed life lessons to them by his openness, his affection, and his legendary sense of humor. Said one, “Your dad was larger than life. The world is a smaller, sadder place without him. May his story be told forever.”
After attending school in Fair Bluff, Guy studied at Oak Ridge Military Academy. He served in the U.S. Army as a medic and an entertainment specialist. Once, while stationed in Karlsruhe, West Germany, Guy “borrowed” an ambulance to go sing for his fellow GIs at the Pa-Pa Club. Following discharge from the Army, he attended East Carolina University where he met Barbara Gray, his bride of 66 years.
In the mid-1950s, Guy began working in retail clothing. He and Barbara opened the Men’s Room, a clothing store in Fair Bluff, at this time, Guy also sang and was a disc jockey on radio stations in Loris, SC, Tabor City, NC, and Whiteville, NC. In the mid-1960s, the Bailey family moved to Southern Pines where they opened a women’s clothing store on Broad Street, Fancy This.
Guy then became an independent clothing sales representative. representing over the years such brands as Skyr, Izod, and countless others in the Southeast. He was a founding member of clothing sales associations, including Old Dominion Fashion Exhibitors and Prime Time Travelers. His showroom in Atlanta was a famously welcoming place for buyers from Florida to Virginia.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 10th, 2021 at 2:00 pm at Boles Funeral Home in Southern Pines. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) or First Health Hospice.
Online condolences may be made at www.bolesfuneralhomes.com.
Services entrusted to Boles Funeral Home.
