James Pitkin Bailey

1927 - 2016

YORKTOWN, VA - James Pitkin Bailey died peacefully at his home in Yorktown, VA on Sunday, August 14, 2016 after a short illness. The youngest child of Dr. Albert A. Bailey and his wife, Eva H. Ginn Bailey, Jim was born on July 25, 1927 in Syracuse, NY. When he was a teenager, his family moved to Tidewater, VA, where Jim lived for the rest of his life. In 1945, Jim enlisted in the US Army and was posted in Biloxi, MS; he was discharged honorably shortly after World War II ended. He then attended and graduated from Randolph Macon College with a degree in History. After teaching high school history classes for one year, Jim worked for many years at the Hydraulic Lab at the Newport News Shipyard. While there, in 1969 he completed a second bachelor's degree in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech and later earned his Professional Engineer designation. In 1975, he accepted a position at the Hampton Technical Center ("HVC") working at Langley Air Force Base as a structural design engineer. He worked for HVC and its progeny from 1975 until the company was eventually bought out by Lockheed Martin, from which position he worked at Langley Air Force Base until his retirement in 1990. Jim worked on several major projects during his career, including Supersonic Transport in the late 1970s and early 1980s, developing structural finite element models and on aircraft crash personnel safety structures including impact-absorbing aircraft seating. In 1954, Jim married Betty Ann Routten, the love of his life. The couple resided first in Newport News, VA, where their son, Charles Franklin Bailey, was born in July, 1957. In January, 1964, they moved to the home on Marlbank Farm in Yorktown, VA, where they resided for the rest of their lives. In April, 1970, Jim was on a research voyage for the US Navy to the Arctic Ocean when his son, Charles, died very suddenly and unexpectedly. The Navy pulled out all the stops to get him home for the funeral. Charles' death was the greatest grief of Jim's life. However, with the help of their loving family and friends and of their beloved Crooks Memorial United Methodist Church where they were active long term parishioners, and especially of their nieces and nephews who became their surrogate children and celebrated Charles with them through the years, Jim and Betty Ann moved forward with their lives. Jim and Betty Ann enjoyed their second home in Duck, NC for many years, making many friends there and enjoying the ocean with long walks on the beach. They loved having their friends and family enjoy their oceanside home with them. Jim, a quiet man, was an avid golfer throughout his adult life. He very much enjoyed his Saturday morning games with coworkers and friends. He was also a voracious reader and avid bird-watcher, using his wooded back yard as his private birding paradise. In their later years, Jim and Betty Ann were able to stay in the home they loved because of a team of caregivers who gave enormously of themselves. The family expresses its great appreciation for the extraordinary care provided to Jim and Betty Ann by Jan Conley of Seaford, VA; Chris Conley of Seaford, VA; Carolyn Jenkins of Hayes, VA; Angie Jenkins of Hayes, VA; Anita Newcomb of Hayes, VA; and Darlene Pauls of Seaford, VA. Jim was predeceased by his son, Charles Franklin Bailey; by his wife, Betty Ann Bailey; by his parents, Albert and Eva Bailey; by his brother, Albert ("Bill") Bailey, Jr. and his wife, Katherine ("Kitty") Bailey; by his sister, Jane Bailey Baum and her husband, Dr. Parker B. Baum; by his nephew, Everett Hill; and by his brother-in-law, Gene Routten. He is survived by his nieces, Nancy Baum Delain of Schenectady, NY; and Melanie Bailey of Richmond, VA; by his nephew, James P. Baum of Boxboro, MA and his wife, Debra Baum; by his sister-in-law, Trudy Hill of Yorktown and her children, Dr. Michael Hill of CA and David Hill of WA, and by Trudy's granddaughter, Lauren Hill Barrish of PA; by his brother-in-law's children, John Routten of NC; Billy Routten of Hampton, VA; Richard Routten of Hampton, VA; and by Dena Elliott Langton of St. Thomas and Upstate NY. A memorial service will be held at Crooks Memorial United Methodist Church in Yorktown, VA on Friday, September 2, 2016 at 3 pm. Final interment will be private. Memorial donations may be made to Crooks Memorial United Methodist Church, 204 Cook Road, Yorktown, VA 23690.