Charles Hoover Bailey was born to William Thomas Bailey, a Baptist, and Florence Christine McMillen Bailey, a Catholic, on 3 June 1913 in Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky. He had one brother, William Everett Bailey and three half sisters, Lula May Bailey, Claudia 'Claudie' Bailey, and Mary Elizabeth 'Minnie' Bailey, from his father's first marriage to Mary Elizabeth 'Lula' Scott.

Charles was baptized Catholic on 20 July 1913, at Saint Stephen Cathedral in Owensboro where he attended elementary school and where his mother worked for priests and the bishop at the mother church of the diocese. His baptismal sponsor was Mattie Coomes and he was baptized by Rev. William McConnell.

After his father passed away and he graduated from high school in Owensboro, Kentucky, he moved with his mother to Louisville, Kentucky and they lived with his mother's older sister, Aunt Jo, also a widow, at 729 22nd Street.

As a young person, Charles took a special interest in wood furniture. One of his first jobs was working as a sander at a company in Louisville that manufactured radios which were housed in wooden cabinets at the time.

Charles married Gracie Lee Bailey at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Louisville, Kentucky on 22 June 1940. Rev. John P Hannon married the couple. The witnesses were Forest Robins, William Everett Bailey, Louise Robins, and Florence Bailey.

Charles and Gracie had five children: Estil Estella Bailey who married Howard Padgett, Charles Emil Bailey, Teresa Ann Bailey who married Michael Mannering, Anthony Edwards Bailey who married Sharon Clem, and Paul Thomas Bailey who married Angela Harp.

Charles grew up in Owensboro, Kentucky, and spent the bulk of his adult life in Louisville. He relocated briefly for work to Jackson, Mississippi, where his son Charles was born. In Jackson, he worked as a supervisor for the Mississippi Products Company, a subsidiary of Sears, Roebuck, and Company. It was at the time, the world's largest manufacturing plants for wooden cabinets for radios, televisions, sewing machines, and keyhole desks.

Charles was a talented furniture maker and restorer, had an eye for quality, and worked for a number of furniture companies including the Adler Company, J.L. Strassel Company, and the Consider H. Willet Company. He would often say, "If you buy the best, it will last longer." During his career, Charles Bailey was professionally recognized as one of the best furniture repair people in the city of Louisville.

Charles was incredibly talented in spite of the fact he only had one good hand after suffering a serious injury to his arm early in life that prevented him from using his left hand. A doctor, likely intoxicated, mis-set Charles' complex fracture and as a result left him only able to use his right hand for the rest of his life.

He retired in the town of Hudson in Breckinridge County, Kentucky on a small hobby farm on State Highway 401 where he kept a large garden. He enjoyed his garden and loved growing different varieties of hot peppers, corn, tomatoes, and other vegetables. His neighbor and friend across the street was Homer Hayden Fentress, who owned and operated a pay lake. Charles and his family would often go fishing in the lake which was well stocked. They would also frequently go to Rough River for picnics and camping. They attended Bluegrass concerts held at Rough River in the summers.

Charles was a wonderful father and grandfather. Charles could recite poems from memory and would dance a jig. Charles favorite poem was If by Rudyard Kipling and he would recite it from memory.

He was a very special person. A broken heart, over the loss of his beloved Gracie, is ultimately what caused his death.

He was preceded in death by his parents, one brother, William Everett Bailey, three half sisters, and spouse, his paternal grandparents, Waller Bailey and Matilda Reid, and his maternal grandparents, Francis Patrick McMillen and Martha Elizabeth Smith. At death, he was survived by his five children, eight grandchildren: Paula Padgett Evans, Laura Padgett, Dale Padgett, Craig Padgett, Kelly Padgett Kirwan, Christopher Padgett, Amanda Scrogham, and Brad Bailey; one niece, Bebe Bailey Fields, and one nephew, William Bailey.

His funeral was held at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Leitchfield, Grayson County, Kentucky, where he attended mass frequently. Rev. Gregory G Trawick was the officiant. Charles body is buried in St. Joseph Catholic Church Cemetery next to his wife Gracie and son Charlie.

May he rest in peace.

-Biography compiled by daughter Estella Bailey Padgett and grandson C. G. Padgett

If by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And—which is more—you'll be a Man, my son!