Captain Malcolm R. “Mac” Bailey, USN (Ret.) died at his home in Oak Harbor on Dec. 11, 2007. He was born in Belfast, Maine, on June 29, 1926, to Ralph E. and Vesta (Clements) Bailey. He was raised on the family farm in Belfast and then moved to Norwich, Conn.

Mac enlisted in the naval aviation program in 1943 and was initially assigned to the college training program at Trinity College (then WPI) in Worcester, Mass. While in college, Mac’s friend Bill Lawrence invited him to his home in Cornwall, N.Y. Bill’s 16-year-old sister, Lorraine, met them at Grand Central. A romance between Mac and Lorraine soon developed. Malcolm Bailey and Lorraine Lawrence were married in Cornwall-on Hudson, New York, on May 4, 1947. Mac entered flight training in 1945 and was designated a naval aviator in April 1947.

After being released to inactive duty, Mac joined the Navy’s air reserve program and flew as a reservist at Greensboro, N.C., with Fighter Squadron 672 in Atlanta, Ga. He worked for a hardware company while on reserve status.

The Korean War began and Mac was recalled to active duty. He was assigned to Attack Squadron 44 at Jacksonville in 1958 and served there until selected for Naval Postgraduate School in 1960.

Upon earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Meteorology, he was ordered to Naval Air Station, Grosse Ille, Mich., as a meteorological officer. In 1965, he reported to Washington, D.C., as the Assistant for Reserve Liaison at the Headquarters, Naval Weather Command. In 1967, he was transferred to Naval Air Station, Olathe, Kansas, where he served as Public Affairs Officer, Technical Training Officer, Director of Readiness, and Training Officer.

Malcolm Bailey was promoted to captain in 1969 and was serving as Executive Officer at NAS Olathe when it was disestablished in 1970. He then reported for a second tour in Washington, D.C., this time assigned to the staff of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air Warfare).

Captain Bailey commanded Naval Air Reserve Unit, Whidbey Island from 1972 to 1975. During that period, the unit was an unprecedented back-to-back winner of the Edwin Francis Conway Memorial Trophy, which was awarded annually to the most professional and efficient unit within the Naval Air Reserve Command. The unit also received consecutive awards of the annual Richard K. West retention trophy for the highest reserve enlisted retention rate.

In 1975, he became Director of Manpower for the Chief of Naval Reserve in New Orleans and assumed his duties as Deputy Chief of Staff for Resources at the Naval reserve headquarters in October 1975. Mac’s final assignment was as Commanding Officer, Naval Training Center, Seattle in 1977. Captain Bailey retired on June 30, 1978, with over 34 years of military service. He was a three-war veteran, having served during World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

Mac and Lorraine had purchased property in L&M Acres development in Oak Harbor before retirement. They left New Orleans and made Oak Harbor their new home. Mac worked for a brief time as an investment advisor for USPA & IRA (First Command), but decided retirement was his goal. He worked for many years as a volunteer for the YMCA.

Mac was a member of St. Augustine’s Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus, John E. O’Brien Council 3361, having served as past Grand Knight and a Fourth Degree Knight. Mac loved to play golf and was a longtime member of the Duffer’s Cove Liar’s Club. He was regular member of Dorothy Neil’s coffee group for many years. He loved camping in his little Casita travel trailer, taking world cruises, telling sea stories and reading, especially Louis Lamour western novels.

Mac is survived by five children, Roger Bailey of Edmonds; James Lawrence Bailey of McChord AFB; Mary Jane Gilbreath and husband Chris of Kingston; Lisa Merrill Warnke and husband Clint of Fairbanks, Ala.; and Patrick Burke Bailey and wife Emma of Everett; and one brother, James Letourette of Quaker Hill, Conn. Also surviving are five grandchildren, Adiene Lorraine Kinlock and Christopher Allen Engell, both of Yakima, Elaine Marie Engell of Kingston, Rachel Ann Engell of Seattle and Emily C. Bailey of Everett; and three great-grandchildren, Lily Kinlock and Logan Kinloch of Yakima and Daniel Patrick Murphy of Kennewick. His wife Lorraine preceded him in death in 2005.

Funeral Mass for Malcolm “Mac” Bailey will be celebrated at St. Augustine’s Catholic Church, Oak Harbor, on Tuesday, Dec. 18, at 11 a.m. with Ch. Lt. Col. James Lawrence Bailey, USAF as Celebrant. Full military honors will follow under the auspices of the NAS Whidbey Island Honor Guard. A reception for family and friends will follow at the Parish Hall. Cremation will follow with inurnment in Tahoma National Cemetery on Dec. 20. Visitation will be held at Burley Funeral Chapel on Monday, Dec. 17, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Arrangements are entrusted to Burley Funeral Chapel, Oak Harbor.