Bailey Smith
Word has been received of the death of Bailey Smith, formerly of East Hampton, on April 6 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., of cancer. He was 84.
Mr. Smith was born in Glendale, Queens, on March 15, 1932, to Richard Wallace Smith Sr. and the former Anna Bailey. He attended the Buckley Country Day School, the Green Vale School, and the Hotchkiss School, where he graduated in 1950. A proud member of the Theta Delta Chi fraternity, he graduated from Cornell University in 1954.
Soon after, he enlisted in the Navy. He was stationed for a time in San Salvador, Bahamas, and often returned to the Bahamas afterward, maintaining relationships throughout his life with many Bajans he had met. After his military service, he worked in finance in New York City at the firms of Hoppin Watson and Wertheim Schroder.
In 1961, he married Elinor Ruth Hageman, and they divided their time, with their three children, between Manhattan and East Hampton. His children said their father instilled in them a love of tennis, the sea, the outdoors, and the New York Rangers.
In 1983, he married Rosemary Herrick Jackson. They lived aboard their schooner, a 49-foot Grand Banks named Quickstep, traveling together through the United States and the Bahamas.
In 1997, he married Carol Lorraine Minns. They had a house in Great Exuma, Bahamas, called Madeira, and traveled extensively throughout Central and South America, Newfoundland, and Labrador. The family said that in addition to fishing, boating, and bird-watching, he developed a talent and love for woodcarving during this time.
Carol Lorraine Minns Smith of Great Exuma survives, as do his three children by his first wife, J. Bailey Smith of Wyndmoor, Pa., Anne (Bee) Townley Smith of Wilmington, N.C., and Scott Wallace Smith of Fair Haven, N.J. He also leaves a brother, Richard Wallace Smith of East Hampton, and six grandchildren.
A service will be held on May 7 at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in George Town, Great Exuma. Burial will be at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Patchogue.
Donations have been suggested to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, N.Y., 14850-1999, or the Exuma Foundation, P.O. Box Ex 29111, George Town, Exuma, Bahamas.