There are some people you know, and there are some people you wish you knew. Dr. Dan Bailey was a person that I wish I knew better. Today, the university held a memorial service for Dr. Dan Bailey, at which a scholarship was created in his name.
Dr. Bailey, or “Bales” as he was sometimes called, was a person who was loved, respected, and a person of many trades. He was a football player. A rugby player. A marathoner. A personal trainer. A doctor. A family man. A father. A grad-dad. A prankster. A happy-go-lucky son-of-a-gun who St. Peter had next on after one of his colleagues flew through the doors in a basketball pick-up game and locked him out. A beer drinker. A hell raiser. A man about food, and a man about town. A three-time Olympian. A Mormon, and the great-grandson of the Mormon expedition to Salt Lake City with Brigham Young.
Most of all, he was proud to bleed the Long Beach State Black and Gold. He was a 49er to the core. A number of speakers talked about the memories they had with Doc Bailey. I thought, I never really knew who he was. But the lives he touched, the legacy he left, the trails he blazed…and over a 36-year run, too. By the time he was born, he already well over a decade into his job. That in itself shows the impact Dr. Dan Bailey had on the Beach.
Now he is in every 49er that remembers him. And he never really left. His spirit will always be alive at this university. We’ll see you soon, Dr. Dan Bailey…someday.