Larry Bailey has passed [Archive]

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Kevin Jones

03-03-2011, 03:34 PM

This is a sad day for the CKCA and the custom knife community in general.
I spoke with one of Larry Bailey's sons a little while ago and I'm sorry to report that our great friend, CKCA Vice President and one of our founders passed away last night. Larry went peaceably setting in his favorite easy chair.

Larry, LOVED custom knives and I can't think of a collector who has spent so much effort for so many years moving our community forward.

This thread pretty much addresses what custom knives meant to Larry and what Larry meant to custom knives. Larry was an ambassador for custom knives, always preferring to work behind the scenes shying aways from getting credit. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=748326

My heart and condolences go out to the family and Larry's many-many friends. I/we are going to miss this fine man so much.

Larry with Phil Lobred at last year's Blade Show:
http://www.fototime.com/4B89B4EBDE5E97D/orig.jpg

Roger Pinnock

03-03-2011, 04:00 PM

This is just terrible news. Larry was truly one of the best and I will miss him greatly. My condolences to his family and to his many friends in the custom knife world.

Roger

Bob Betzner

03-03-2011, 04:38 PM

My condolences go out to family and friends.

Bob Betzner

Jim Cooper

03-03-2011, 05:28 PM

Aaaarggh. Really tough to hear and absorb.

Yeah, last year at Blade, Larry went out of his way to bring me a display case, just so I could show off my Hill Pearce knives protected. Completely his idea and willingness that made it happen.

A testimony to his undying support of Custom Knives, and his love of the people.

My warmest thoughts to him and his family.

Thank you, Kevin.

Coop

Karl B. Andersen

03-03-2011, 05:31 PM

I am deeply saddened.
Nothing can prepare a family for something like this, and my wishes for solace goes to all those near and dear to Larry.

Jon Klein

03-03-2011, 05:47 PM

Very sad news indeed. I only knew Larry a short period of time meeting him for the first time at Blade last year. Such a wonderful man and committed to both the CKCA along with the custom knife community as a whole.

My deepest and most sincere condolences to his family.

Jon

Jim Treacy

03-03-2011, 05:50 PM

I'm very sorry to hear the sad news.

Larry was one of the nicest and most knowledgeable people that I had met in the custom knife community. I had many great conversations with him.

He contibuted much to the CKCA as well as promoting his Ohio show.

He will be missed.

My sympathies to his family and friends.

Jim Treacy

jackking

03-03-2011, 05:50 PM

Very sad. Prayers for his family. I talked to Larry a couple months ago on the phone. He said he wasn't coming to the Little Rock AR show this year. We missed him.

Murray White

03-03-2011, 05:51 PM

John White

03-03-2011, 05:53 PM

Larry Bailey was a sweet, kind, gentleman. I will miss the light he brought to the knife community, and I'll miss Larry.

My thoughts go out to his family and friends, and he will be in my memory.

John

Don Hanson

03-03-2011, 05:58 PM

Very sad news. He will be greatly missed!

Hans Holzach

03-03-2011, 06:10 PM

very sad news, indeed! living far away from the US i have never met larry, but i do know that he will be sorely missed. my condolences to his family and his friends.

hans

Steve Culver

03-03-2011, 06:13 PM

Very sad news. Larry was always a pleasure to talk to. He will be deeply missed in the knife community.

My condolences to his family and many friends.

Bob Starkey

03-03-2011, 06:25 PM

I like to think of myself fortunate enough to call Larry a friend. My wife was saddened to hear of Larry's passing, and she could tell that news has really disturbed me. I will miss him.
Bob

Dan Cassidy

03-03-2011, 06:52 PM

I was saddened to hear of Larry's passing today. I valued his advice and insight and will miss him.

My thoughts and prayers are with his family and many friends.

Lin Rhea

03-03-2011, 07:06 PM

I've had to sit and soak this news in. It's a shock.

I can say that Larry was one of the people that has helped me a lot in the beginning of the CKCA. He was very much a stabilizing influence with wisdom available to those who would listen. I'll miss him.

My condolences go out to the family. Lin

Marcel Dierijck

03-03-2011, 07:09 PM

I'm lost for words.

Marcel

Paul Long

03-03-2011, 07:33 PM

Pete Crowl

03-03-2011, 09:42 PM

Just terrible news!!! Larry was such a great man. He was a very good friend and I will miss him and our chats very much. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

Jon Brand

03-03-2011, 09:56 PM

Oh my god, I just saw this on blade forums and can't even believe it. I was just on the phone with Larry about three days ago and he told me he was in his favorite chair!! He was one of the nicest guys in the scene and took alot of time to talk to me about collecting and really REALLY reached out to me. I am shedding tears for Larry now and cant see this stopping anytime soon tonight. Wow. Rest in peace Larry Bailey.

Jerry Manuel

03-04-2011, 12:03 AM

Very sad news . I too met Larry for the first time at Blade last year . I sat with him a while at the CKCA booth and of course we talked knives . So sorry this happen - Jerry

Kevin Jones

03-04-2011, 01:19 AM

Kevin -- I have posted in BF but thought here I'd mention that CKCA should likely see if either an award or maybe an annual knife could be created (hunter of course) and maybe raffled with it being called the Larry Bailey Commemorative. Just something to toss around among the collectors and the makers that are CKCA members.

I too have posted in BF, but wanted to agree with Murray's suggestion about a Larry Bailey commemorative event of some sort on an annual basis. He did so much for CKCA and we need to see that new members coming on know of him and his work as well.
Paul

Yes, I agree, we need to create a commemorative event or project to honor Larry. He was very special and very wise with a lot of life experiences. Was someone I could always count on for honest advice. One of my best friends.

I use to be very thankful that Larry was instrumental in my getting to know custom knives, however after reflecting today, I now realize how thankful I am for custom knives being instrumental in my getting to know Larry Bailey.

He was quite a show promoter as well:
http://www.customknifecollectorsassociation.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=6

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc138/10456kja/Ohio%20Classic%2009/Cambridge09-1.jpg
(starting from left of this Terrill Hoffmam photo) CKCA members; Larry Danielkiewicz, Pete Crowl, Kevin Jones, Larry Bailey (a Founder, Vice-president of the CKCA and promoter of the Ohio Classic), Karl Andersen, Frank DeCola

ChuckKerwin

03-04-2011, 01:27 AM

Rest in Peace Larry, I'll miss you my friend!

jerry fisk

03-04-2011, 01:32 AM

Larry was a good man both in the knife field and off the field. I will miss him. What dedication he had the the efforts he put out to bring new people into the field with transporting and displaying his collection. Go in peace my good man.

Roger E Ball

03-04-2011, 01:39 AM

I only had to pleasure of meeting Larry over the phone a couple of times regarding this year's club knife. I'm very new to fixed blade collecting and Larry was especially kind and patient with me and all of my questions. I was impressed by both his postive nature and his kindness. I'm sorry I didnt' get to know him better. My loss. My prayers will be for God's peace and relief of the pain of grief for his family and friends.

Roger Ball

Charles Vestal

03-04-2011, 02:19 AM

I am sad to hear of Larry's passing.

Larry was always there to give advice and encouragement to me and I'm sure to others as well.

There will be a large void in the custom knife community.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Larry's family and friends.

Charles

Jon Christensen

03-04-2011, 02:51 AM

Such sad news. He will be dearly missed.
Whenever I talked to him he always had good things to say, always made me laugh. He was definitely a "glass half full" person.
My condolences and prayers to his family.

Jon

Jon Brand

03-04-2011, 04:05 AM

I would love to see a hunter project in his name as mentioned. Also I wanna add that Larry stressed his love for this community over the knives them selves. He loved the community and all you guys involved!

Doug Castor

03-04-2011, 12:00 PM

So very sad to hear this.
Sincere condolences to all.

Doug

Russ Andrews

03-04-2011, 02:02 PM

An annual Larry Bailey Service Award would be appropriate.

Bruce Bump

03-04-2011, 03:27 PM

I wish I would have gotten to know Larry better, he sounds like a genuine person that loves knives, makers and fellow collectors, a loss for us all. So sorry to hear of his passing away. His contribution to our community and kind presence will not be forgotten.
My condolences to his family and friends

Kevin Jones

03-04-2011, 06:07 PM

An annual Larry Bailey Service Award would be appropriate.

It's ironic that a while back the CKCA board discussed our organization creating and awarding a custom knife community "CKCA Lifetime Achievement Award".

I hope/think my quoting Larry here appropriate as it not only gives his thoughts on the matter, but in my opinion, let's us know that it's time for such an award and Larry's life and dedication to custom knives answers our questions as to purpose, name and criteria.

I think the CKCA at some point should have some kind of award. What should it be for, or what should it be called, I don't know. This is where we need to put our thought process together, to answer these questions. And as Jerry said, to set our criteria. The award needs to carry the honor of the process that was used in it's establishment. Let's do it right. The CKCA, I think, has become known for doing things right. Let's hit a home run on this front too. Let us not hurry to make a mistake.

As most of us know, Larry always read the various knife forums but very seldom commented/posted on them. He preferred communicating, helping advising in a more personal way. However when he did post it always reflected his wise and "common sense" approach to issues and "life" in general. Thus when he posted so many stopped and took notice.

It's also ironic that such a knowledgeable, valuable, productive and dynamic member of the custom knife community who brought us so many new collectors and helped so many knifemakers over many years and promoted/managed a very successful regional knife show was not as broadly well know as some may expect.
This comes as no surprise to us who knew Larry well and are aware of his accomplishments as he preferred to work unselfishly behind the scenes.
It was not about Larry Bailey in his eyes, but about his and other's love for custom knives and those involved with them.

Kevin Evans

03-04-2011, 06:45 PM

Very good guy that will be missed.
Sincere Condolences from my family to yours.
Kevin& Cheryl

Kevin Jones

03-04-2011, 07:08 PM

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/zanesvilletimesrecorder/obituary.aspx?n=Larry-Bailey&pid=149078737

Mark Segars

03-04-2011, 09:24 PM

Larry was as kind of a person as a stranger ever met. The first time I met him face-to-face was at the Blade Show 2010. I had just cut my finger (of course) and he ran and fetched me a bandage. I liked him immediately.

Brian Thie

03-04-2011, 11:25 PM

Larry was a great man and a wonderful friend to the knife making community.

It was a pleasure to have met Larry several years ago and I enjoyed the many conversations that we have had. Larry was always willing to provide advice and ideas to me and other knifemakers to help guide us on our path with a collector's view point.

I always enjoyed the looks that Larry would give me when I asked his advise. He was always willing to help, and he had a very special look that he would give me as if he was feeling me out to see if I was ready to hear what he was going to tell me. Without exception, this look was the beginning to a very interesting and valuable conversation. I am sure that many are quite familiar with this look as well. I will miss those looks very much.

Brian

john horrigan

03-05-2011, 12:12 AM

Ever man dies, it's how you live that counts. Larry lived life to the fullest. We act like we're in the land of the living, going to the land of the dying. We're really in the land of the dying, going to the land of the living. I'll see you on the flipside Larry.

JOHN 3:15

Kyle Royer

03-05-2011, 01:52 PM

Larry will be missed. I did not have the pleasure of knowing him very long and I found him to be a very helpful person with a genuine spirit.

Jim Treacy

03-06-2011, 01:35 PM

This is a photo of Larry and his knife display taken by Murray White at the 2008 BladeShow. There aren't many collectors who would go to the trouble and expense of displaying their knives for others to appreciate.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i165/jjtjr/LarryBaileydisplay.jpg

Marcel Dierijck

03-06-2011, 03:09 PM

Kevin Jones

03-06-2011, 03:45 PM

Thanks for finding it Jim.

I would also like to thank Murray and Phyllis White (and our other member photographers) for their efforts in photo documenting the knife shows.

I've been looking at Murray's Blade Show threads as I'm searching for photos for Larry's son Joe, and realizing what an asset they are as an archive for the CKCA.
Do yourself a favor and go back through them from time to time.

Murray White

03-07-2011, 07:04 AM

Thanks Kevin -- we are already booked into the hotel -- Sheraton Galleria -- will be doing lots of photos. Not sure now who we will be doing contact with for the Exhibitor passes. Are you going to be handling those Kevin? We need 2. Oh, we also will be attending the CKCA banquet. And David D -- I will be wanting a Van Barnett book if they will be available at Blade.