Joan Bailey

Joan E. Bailey of Bridgton and Madison, Conn., died in April at the Gorham House in Gorham.

Born in 1921 in New York City, N.Y., the daughter of Leslie James and Genevieve Devine Bailey, she was raised in Deal, N.J., and Farmington, Conn. She graduated from Mount St. Joseph's Academy in W. Hartford, Conn. There she grew in her love of the Catholic Church, which sustained her all of her life.

In the 1940s she lived in New York City and was the featured vocalist in the Enoch Light Orchestra, singing in major hotels in Manhattan and on USO tours. On tour, she met her future husband (now deceased), a pharmacist in North Carolina. She was the wonderful mother to three children, Gene and Joan Horne, now living in Conn., and Peter Horne, residing in Bridgton.

She moved to Madison, Conn., in the 1970s and became a successful real estate broker, elected into the President's Club. When she was 70, she moved to Newport, R.I. She was overjoyed to land a job as a tour guide in the historic mansions there. Later she retired to Maine with her companion, Tony, a fat orange rescue cat.

She loved her faith, friends, flowers, the beauty all around us, and music, especially the Gershwins. But, most of all, she loved and cherished her family.

She is survived by her three children; eight grandchildren (of Peter and Laurie Horne), and her brother and nephew of New York City, Bill and William Bailey.

Burial is in Farmington, Conn. Her love will shine within us forever.