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From CIA to school volunteer, life's roles suited him

The retiree wheeled himself into the classroom, up until the day before he died.

By STEPHANIE HAYES, Times Staff Writer
Published October 4, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Mac Bailey was a CIA officer who worked in Greece, London and Washington D.C. But to students at Lakeview Fundamental Elementary, he was just the friendly library volunteer. [Family photo]

ST. PETERSBURG - On Friday, Mac Bailey drove himself to Lakeview Fundamental Elementary. In his wheelchair, he spent the morning volunteering in a second-grade class.

Later, he read to his 6-year-old granddaughter, Grace, at her school's Grandparents Day celebration.

"The last thing he did with a child on this earth was read a story," said his wife, Bernadette Bailey. "You don't ever know when the end is coming."

The next day, his heart gave out. He was 68.

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When Mr. Bailey retired in 1996, he joined a St. Petersburg volunteer road patrol force. His wife wasn't surprised - it involved a uniform and helping the police. It suited him.

He spent his career with the CIA, working in cryptographic communications. He worked in Greece, London, and the Middle and Far East.

In 1961, he met his future wife, then a CIA secretary. She remembers it clearly: He spun around in his desk chair, saw her and knew he would marry her.

But he held his tongue.

"I'll call you for coffee," he told her.

In some ways, they were opposites. She was shy and reserved. And Mr. Bailey once wore holes in brand-new penny loafers after jitterbugging with girls at a high school dance.

But they fit. They married and had two boys. He couldn't always talk about his CIA work at home, his wife said. But he tried to teach his sons work ethic and honesty.

In Florida, where the couple moved eight years ago, Mr. Bailey loved fishing off his dock.

Sometimes, he would ask his wife to take him to a store. He wouldn't buy anything, just wander around. He had to be out of the house.

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A CIA officer working with grade-school kids? His wife never expected it.

But when neighbors invited Mr. Bailey to volunteer at Lakeview, he got hooked, his wife said. It was something in the way kids talked to him, their honesty and their bluntness.

"Mac connected with the kids in kind of a grandfather role," said Gary Cannon, who until last year was Lakeview's principal.

When his diabetes worsened, Mr. Bailey's foot was amputated. The ordeal taught him patience.

Every morning, his wife would push him down the wheelchair ramp at their home and load the wheelchair into the truck.

Mr. Bailey would drive off, bound for another day at school.

Stephanie Hayes can be reached at shayes@sptimes.com or 727 893-8857.

BIOGRAPHY

Mac Bailey

Born: Dec. 8, 1938

Died: Sept. 29, 2007

Survivors: Wife, Bernadette; sons, Bryan John and Robert Keith; brother, Russell; grandchildren, Dana, Dorian, Liam and Grace.

Services: Visitation from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at St. Raphael Catholic Church, 1376 Snell Isle Blvd. NE, St. Petersburg. Mass at noon.

[Last modified October 3, 2007, 22:56:22]