Feb. 24--Jim Bailey was a longtime community volunteer in Carol Stream, where he spent a decade on the library board and was named one of the village's Citizens of the Year in 2003.
"Jim taught me about the importance of volunteerism and always encouraged civic responsibility," said Carol Stream library trustee Nadia Sheikh. "He was passionate about honoring the diversity within our community and our nation as a whole, and I respected him for that."
Bailey, 74, died of complications from ischemic heart disease Jan. 20 at his Cullman, Ala., home, said his wife of 36 years, Leigh. He had moved to Alabama last May.
Born and raised in Memphis, Tenn., Bailey was the youngest of 10 children, his wife said. He attended Messick High School in Memphis and was good friends with Steve Cropper and Donald "Duck" Dunn, musicians who went on to play in bands including Booker T. the MG's.
After high school, Bailey enlisted in the Air Force, serving for eight years and specializing in maintaining and modifying computer equipment at the dawn of the computer era. He also had a tour of duty in Vietnam, his wife said.
Bailey left the Air Force in 1967 and took a job in Pennsylvania for the now-defunct business equipment manufacturer Burroughs Corp., first as a field engineer and then as a system test engineer.
In 1971, Bailey moved to Illinois to work as a project leader for a Champaign firm overseeing the design and manufacturing of an automatic test board for printed circuit boards. The following year, he joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he worked for two years as a research engineer and with his team developed the first touch-screen panel, his wife said.
"Jim was always on the cutting edge," said former U. of I. Center for Advanced Computation associate director Pete Alsberg, who worked alongside Bailey. "Jim was always up for anything -- and the bigger the challenge, the more interested he became."
From 1974 until 1977, he designed and developed law enforcement systems for a Champaign-based technology firm. He later worked in sales for a Paris manufacturer of kiosks that print out boarding passes at airports.
Bailey moved to Carol Stream in 1982 and became involved with the village's Rotary Club, serving as an officer, and also as a member of the Carol Stream Historical Society. In 2003, he was named one of the village's Citizens of the Year.
In 2005, Bailey won a four-year seat on the Carol Stream library board of trustees. He won re-election to two-year terms in 2009, 2011 and 2013, including stints as vice president and president. He also served on a variety of board committees.
"Jim was a person who was quiet of mouth, but his intentions were always the best," said trustee Ed Jourdan. "And he had a very straightforward way of looking at things. Sometimes he was a little bit opinionated, but you know what? So are a lot of people. He was very, very honest in what he expressed. And his intentions were always the best."
During Bailey's time on the board, trustees had a highly charged, long-running debate over whether to sell a 7.5-acre parcel of land on Kuhn Road that the board had purchased in 2003 for a possible new library. Ultimately, Bailey and four other trustees voted in 2013 to retain the tract and lease it to the Carol Stream Park District.
A first marriage ended in divorce. In addition to his wife, Bailey is survived by daughters, Julie Lynn Morris, Jacqueline Ann Bailey, Amy Bailey Ackley and Arminda Branaman; four grandchildren; and a brother, Joe.
A visitation will take place from 1 to 4:30 p.m. March 6 at Heritage Presbyterian Church, 965 Kuhn Road, Carol Stream. A service will follow from 5 to 6 p.m.
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
