Ronnie Kenneth Bailey's Obituary
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 decades, placing in his path, first, two separate bouts with the deadly illness Gullain Barre syndrome, and then a cancer diagnosis, but Ron stubbornly refused to quit living. His children and grandchildren were in need of a great deal more bossing around and directing here on earth. It took the piling on of a worsening heart condition as well as liver and kidney failure and, finally, an internal infection before he agreed that death had made a convincing argument for his departure.
Ron was born to Versie Bailey in Princeton, West Virginia March 7th of 1941. He grew up poor in a coal mining town and attended a one room country schoolhouse which taught kids of all ages. When he wanted a sip of water he had to go outside and hand pump well water from the spigot, then catch the water in a cone of paper, which he would have to borrow from a friend because he rarely had any paper of his own. Later, he attended and graduated from Princeton High School where he remembered being one of the worst students in school, once earning points with his friends for sneaking out the window during class, getting a haircut and then sneaking back in before the teacher noticed he was gone.
After High School Ron joined the army and was selected to work on a new technology called computers. His aptitude for computers meant he spent most of his years in the army working at the pentagon instead of the jungles of Vietnam. During this time, he went to buy a bracelet for a girl he had a crush on, but he fell in love with the salesgirl at the jewelry store and started dating her instead. Ron and Beverly Welsh Bailey married in 1962 and remained married for 56 years until her passing in 2018.
After the army Ron completed his studies in computer information systems, earning a Master's degree from American University in Washington, DC. He then went on to teach computer information systems at Strayer University. When the owner of Strayer University wanted to retire Ron scraped together his savings, borrowed all the money he could, and bought the company. He turned it around and made it profitable, and then later sold it on Wall Street through a public offering. With the proceeds of this sale, he moved to Tampa and started the Bailey Family Foundation where he has given away tens of millions of dollars in scholarship money to deserving students in the Tampa area and supported countless Tampa charities.
In addition to his professional and philanthropic achievements he was also an accomplished athlete. He was the self-proclaimed “Horse” basketball champion of Loisdale estates in Springfield, Virginia throughout the 70’s and 80’s and the perennial “Bailey Cup” tennis champion of Harbour Island, Tampa, Florida in the Two Bounce Division in the early 2000’s.
His greatest success, however, was as a Dad to Kyle Bailey, Kent Bailey, and Piroj Piboolnuruk, as a father-in-law to Michele Bailey, Stephanie Bailey, and Tina Piboolnuruk, and as a Poppop to Brandon, Justin, Cameron, Megan, Lily, Sofia, Taryn, Finley, Hazel, Bailey and Isabella.
His sons remember him shirtless on the front porch drinking Stroh’s and watching them play in the front yard. As soon as they were old enough to hang on to the handlebars, he put them both on dirt bikes. Ron and sons could be found most Sundays riding the trails through the acres of undeveloped woods behind their home in Virginia. When approaching any particularly rough and steep hills he was sure to stop at the base and make his eldest son, Kyle, go first to test it out. He once set himself on fire trying to exterminate an ant hill with gasoline which resulted in a visually spectacular run across the backyard to jump in the pool while engulfed in flame. He once ate butter wrapped in tinfoil while traveling because he thought it was cheese. It took him far longer than one would expect to realize he was chewing on tinfoil. He was always pointing his fingers and telling his kids, grandkids and spouses where to go and what to do. He was physically incapable of watching a family member enter a parking lot without telling them where to park. In short, his sons remember him as the best Dad ever. And they don’t know what they’re going to do now without him pointing his fingers.
Rest easy Ron. Enjoy that cold Stroh’s in your hand and Beverly by your side again. You’ve earned it.
The family invites friends to gather at Sunset Funeral Home of Thonotosassa, FL starting at 9am on Wednesday December 18th. With the Celebration of Life to begin at 10am. In lieu of flowers please donate to a local charity or help someone near you as that’s what Ron was passionate about.
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