Ernest Bailey

Ernest (Ernie) Clay Bailey, born May 28, 1921 in Oakley, Kansas. Married to Ida Mae Halbrooks on    November 17, 1945.  Children are Donna Lee Bailey Weiszbrod, Gerald (Gary) Ernest Bailey, Randall (Randy) Clay Bailey, Daniel (Danny) Clay Bailey.  Nine grandchildren and 9.5 great grandchildren.

One definition of light is the brightness that lets you see things.  Events in Ernie’s life were shaped and ultimately changed by light.  Visible light, the action of light, light by its very name.  Ernie helped as all to see things differently through the light he brought into our lives.

Born in Kansas and living through the ensuing dust bowl, there was the need for more light in 1925 when his family left the dust and wind permeated plains of Kansas and moved to Colorado. That led to farming and ranching in the Crawford and Paonia, Colorado area for many years.

As a young man, there was the horrific event that forever changed Ernie’s life. His father was killed by a bolt of lightning as he was pulling a horse drawn rake through the hay fields.  Ernie, a young man who had to force himself to trek across the pasture knowing he was going to find his father’s lifeless body.  Subsequently, he was left to raise the family and make sure his sisters had a college education to prepare them for life.

Ernie found the light in his Savior and Lord at a Baptist church, when he was in his mid-twenties.  This encounter with the Light of the World, transformed and shaped everything about his future, from that point forward. He was “not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes.” Ernie was a man who did not hold back when the opportunity arose to talk about Jesus.  Every family member staunchly received a sermon from Ernie as representation of his love when they were departing his company. His admonishing was an inevitable part of his loving goodbyes.

Ernie and his young bride, Ida, went to Waxahachie TX in 1946 to Southwestern Assembly of God Bible College.  This was to prepare him for ministry in churches where he served as pastor in Arkansas, Utah, Idaho and Colorado.  He wanted everyone to have the assurance that they would “know, that they know, that they know” that they are saved and going to heaven.

In 1963 Ernie and his life-long friend, Elmer Lowrance started the first chapter in Colorado of Royal Rangers, a faith-based boys club teaching them life lessons and Christian values. One evening in Uravan Colorado, they took a group of boys up the rock known as the Biscuit.  At the top, they built a big fire and Ernie talked to the boys about the light of the fire and the hot coals, using them as an illustration of the fires of hell.  That life lesson about the hot coals and the parallel image of hell stuck in the hearts of many of those boys over their lifetime.

Ernie had the strongest hands, from working the ranch, milking cows, working on engines.  Many people commented on his grip and budding teen boys from church tried to match that manly grip and subsequently, they saw the light! But the light those young men saw was pain, as they dropped to their knees from the power and strength in those hands.

Ernie’s career spanned several different industries. He delivered fuel to the mines near Nucla and Naturita, Colorado driving some very treacherous and steep dirt roads.  One of the highlights of his professional career was winning Salesman of the Year for his company Duro Test Lighting.  He landed very large lighting contracts at Norad (Cheyenne Mountain) and the Airforce Academy Hospital near Colorado Springs.  Winning the coveted title provided him with a trip to New York City for the award ceremony. Ernie sold and delivered BG additive products across Colorado, working for Kenz & Leslie. He worked until he was 92, repairing windshields for Busy Bee Glass, a company he started and managed.  This job required the repair of customer’s unwanted light refraction that came through cracks or pits in their windshields.  He was always willing to help his friends and neighbors with building projects, mechanical assistance, yard work, etc.

Ernie enjoyed trips to the lake or his favorite streams to fish, and his fish stories were sometimes tall tales, but we all enjoyed listening to his embellished adventures. He also loved to hunt and many of those excursions ended up with impromptu mechanical repairs – using the light of lanterns and flashlights to accomplish a successful vehicle or trailer restoration.

On a lighter note, Ernie once burned all the hair from his face when he was repairing Donna’s car. During the repair, the carburetor backfired and sparked a small fire.  That light was not an event he wanted, nor did he plan for it.

One of the favorite family stories was when Shorty, who worked with Ernie, showed up at his house one evening for dinner, and nonchalantly made the comment,” Ernie, your wife is not fat”.  That evening electricity lit up the air in their house, but it was again not a form of energy that Ernie embraced.  Ida Mae helped Ernie “see the light” that night.

Ernie always had a joke to tell and he always laughed all the way through the joke and he always, without fail, messed up the punchline.  But he thought it was hilarious, even when the recipients of the joke had to spend the next few seconds figuring out the REAL punchline and explaining to him why/how he had messed it up.  He could light up a room with his laughter and he loved telling his corny Grandpa jokes.

Ernie’s last few years, he served in ministry at the Delta County Correctional facility, talking to, sharing the Word and leading inmates to his Savior.  Ernie received a letter of commendation from previous governor, Bill Owens for his service and his willingness to share The Light, to men who had been entangled in darkness.

On Valentine’s day, 2020, Ernie stepped out of his tired 98-year-old body and entered in to the light of heaven, greeted at the gates, by his Savior. Now he’s walking on streets of gold along with Ida Mae, their twins who have been in heaven for decades and several grandchildren who did not make it to their first breath here on earth.  But to Ernie, the highlight of this transition is NOW, to know, that he knows, that he knows, that he knows - he is safe in the arms of The Light of the World.

Well done Ernest Clay Bailey, thou good and faithful servant!

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at True Life Church, Cedaredge, Colorado, March 6th at 2:00 p.m.