Birth date: Mar 7, 1941 Death date: Dec 11, 2024
Ronnie Kenneth Bailey March 7, 1941 – December 11, 2024 Ron Bailey died peacefully in bed at Tampa General Hospital in the morning hours of Wednesday, December 11, 2024. The specter of death had been trying to take Ron for decade Read Obituary
Karen & I knew Ron & Bev and considered them our dearest friends. We met them after returning to Florida in 2000.
Ron was a very unique man. As a humanitarian & philanthropist, he touched the lives of hundreds, even thousands of people. He was one who will leave a void in our life because of his absence. We thank God for putting him in our path. RIP friend…until we meet again.
—Michael Glisson
I have been doing Mr. Bailey’s hair for over 19 years and every time he called me for his appointment he would say “Hi Stacie this is Ron Bailey” until I started answering the phone with “Hi Mr. Bailey” we had a routine and many years of conversations, some about my crazy life that he would just shake his head and laugh at me and some just him telling me about his life and his grandchildren because I had 2 boys that are the same age as 2 of his grandsons. I’m going to miss those days and I felt like we had many more conversations left to be had but I’m just grateful for all the years he followed me to the few salons that I moved to and then eventually to the house in plant city! Condolences to all of the family and what a great and caring man he was!
Stacie Hughes
Ron Bailey was a crusader for education - Strayer College, Strayer University, and then the Bailey Foundation.Twenty seven years ago he helped me to build a small free elementary school in the bush in Kenya for children who never went to school.It is still prospering today and thousands of Kenyan children have been educated.He never went to Africa, but that was not important. The goal was education and he met that goal every time. There are also a group of "Bailey Scholars" in Kenya who benefited from scholarships to go on with their education. Mr. Bailey never knew those students but they knew him. His name will be remembered in N. Kenya for a long time. The children used to call him "the good man who lives in a place called Florida". And he was just that - a good man. May he rest in peace. His legacy on earth is a rich one. Janet Jalloul, Kenya, East Africa
Ronnie was one of my best friends, we went to school together. He was precious and a very humble man. I will remember him always. My prayers are for Kyle, Kent and all the family. Thanks Ronnie for your friendship all these many years. Gypsie Calvi
I started teaching at Strayer College in 1992 when we had 8 campuses in the Washington, DC area and watched him grow the college into a university with many more campuses. Years later we connected over Facebook after he moved to Florida. It was fabulous to be able to keep in touch. He will be missed.
