Wayne Bailey

Wayne Bailey, 87, of Hope Mills, NC, joined his beloved wife and daughter in Heaven on April 30th, 2024. He was born May 5th, 1936, in Forsyth County to Grace and Braxton Price Bailey.  Wayne married his sweetheart, Martha Hanes, on August 5th, 1956, and the two shared a storybook life that spanned 65 years before Martha’s passing in 2022.

Growing up Wayne always had friends around.  He loved camping out with his friends in the woods of the neighborhood.  In his Senior year, he was Vice President of his class at Griffith High School.  He was Co-Captain and fullback on his Senior football Team in 1954. He also found time to sing in a quartet and they performed on Television once.  He enjoyed drama and was in the play “Arsenic and Old Lace” in his Senior Year. 

Wayne was a smart, driven, hardworking man. With Martha by his side, he built an incredible life for their family from the ground up. Wayne returned to education at age 27 after taking an entry level position with NCDOT and earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at NC State in 1970 while Martha worked to help put him through school. Wayne went on to be a respected Civil engineer at the Department of Transportation and retired as Chief Engineer for the state in 1993. Wayne enjoyed construction and built many residential homes in his spare time, including the home in which he and Martha spent their final years together. After retirement, Wayne and Martha traveled the country in their RV and enjoyed many adventures together on the road.

Wayne loved his family. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather and brother who will be greatly missed by everyone who knew and loved him. It was true and obvious to anyone who spent any time with him.  His quick wit and ability to make everyone laugh was impeccable. He was certainly one of a kind and a very special pillar of the family.

He is survived by his son and daughter by marriage, Don and Audrey Bailey; a son in law, Tony McNeill; five grandchildren, Lee (Natalia) McNeill, Megan (Mark) McGuire, Amanda Bailey, Jason (Naisha) Noble, and Donald Noble; three precious great-grandchildren, Alexis, Hayley, and Luna Noble; two sisters, June Vernon and Brenda Nifong, along with countless relatives.