- Date Of Birth: March 1, 1960
- Date Of Death: March 2, 2022
- State: California
Wilbur Lee Bailey was born on March 1, 1960, in San Diego, CA. He was the second of three children of Clinton Lee and Theresa (Valentine) Bailey. His formative years were spent in the San Diego Unified School District where he attended Stockton Elementary School, Dana Jr. High School, and San Diego High School. He furthered his education at San Diego Community College earning certifications in plumbing and welding.
Wilber’s passion for plumbing was developed at a very young age when he accompanied his dad, Clinton, at work on many construction sites. He pursued this lifelong trade independently and at many local organizations. This month, Wilbur would have celebrated nine years with Specialized Pipe Technologies (SPT), an underground video pipe inspection company. Wilbur developed many close relationships with his colleagues and one of his superiors is quoted as saying, “Wilbur will always be remembered as a no-nonsense teammate. A hard worker by nature. Wilbur never complained, and always made himself useful. Anyone who was lucky enough to be paired with Wilbur will tell you that he would never grumble and believed in getting the job done. Wilbur was always one of the first to arrive, with his bright yellow safety vest, always working around the warehouse in San Diego doing whatever needed to get done. He will be missed by all of us.”
Wilber was a very quiet and easy-going man who loved his mother, Theresa’s, cooking. He would never say no to anyone and could be counted on to fulfill any requests asked of him. No matter the task, Wilbur’s response was always “I got it!” Wilbur was a family man who embraced time with his cousins as if they were siblings. He would spend time at his Aunt Naomi’s house with Lil Pat (now deceased), Tina Patterson and Beverly Purcell.
Wilbur’s heart and joy was his daughter, Yettishia. He loved doing things with her to make her feel special. She recalls her dad as “a hard worker” who “always made a way out of no way!” She recalls lovingly the countless times she accompanied him to work and “got to see him in action doing what he loved to do.” One of her fondest memories with her dad was her 10th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. That memory highlighted for her that she “could always depend on him to be there” for her whenever she needed him.
Preceded in death by his younger brother, Gilbert Lewis Bailey (Mehnmah), Wilbur leaves to mourn his passing his parents, Clinton and Theresa Bailey, Special friend, Delores Washington, daughter Yettishia Marie Bailey, granddaughter Harmony, Marie Cooper, sister, Diane Kennedy (Daniel), nephews Daniel and Jarrett Kennedy, Gilbert Lewis and David Lee Bailey, uncle Henry Valentine (Annie Jean), Aunts Eugenia Foster and Katherine Brooks and a host of cousins, other relatives and friends.
