Billy Delmore Bailey March 8, 1938 ~ August 4, 2025 (age 87)

Funeral services for Billy D. Bailey, 87, a longtime resident of Portales will be held at 10:00 AM, Tues., Aug. 12, 2025 in the Wheeler Mortuary Chapel with Rev. Michael Summers officiating, assisted by Zachary Dell and Cage Win Riley.  Burial will follow in the Portales Cemetery with Russell Riley, Zachary Riley, Cage Riley, D. J. Lee, tony Summers and Glen Summers serving as pallbearers.  Full military honors will be rendered at the cemetery.  Visitation will begin on Saturday and continue until service time.  Those desiring to make memorial contributions may send them to the New Mexico Baptist Children’s Home, P O Box 629, Portales, NM 88130.

Billy Delmore Bailey was born Mar. 8, 1938 in Russellville, KY to the home of Lorena Rhoda Jenny (Clark) and Roy B. Bailey, and died on the evening of Aug. 4, 2025 in Friona, TX where he had been staying for the past two years.

Mr. Bailey left school at the age of 16, and joined the US Air Force where he was able to complete his education.  Following basic training, he was stationed at Cannon Air Force Base.  It was while stationed there that he met Velma June Summers, and they were married May 31, 1958.  In addition, Billy was stationed for a time in Turkey, and while there was part of a group that were invited to visit Israel.  He was able to visit many of the famous sites including the Wailing Wall.  Being tall and thin, and trained as a welder, one of his jobs was to do welding repairs inside the belly of the planes.  He would enter the front of the plane head first, and was held by his feet, so that he could be extracted when he was finished with the repairs.  Among the planes that he worked on was the U-2 flown by Gary Powers.

Following his discharge, he worked for several years in the Water Department for the City of Portales.  He also served as a Volunteer Fire Fighter and attained the rank of Captain.  During those years the Department received several awards from the Fire Academy.  In 1969, he became a Postal Letter Carrier for the US Postal Service.  Billy eventually became a clerk and served customers at the window of the local Post Office until his retirement in 1994.  Following his retirement, he worked part time for a local car dealership transferring cars from location to location.

He had many interests.  Billy was an avid golfer, and played in a number of tournaments throughout the area.  He was also an accomplished bowler, and even had a perfect 300 game to his credit.  Billy enjoyed hunting for and collecting railroad nails as well as collecting stamps and coins.  Going deer hunting and attending Fast Pitch Softball games were also things he enjoyed.  He was gifted creatively, and among his talents was to repurpose junk into something useful.  He was an outgoing and friendly man who was well liked in the community and was blessed with numerous friends.  He was a member of the University Baptist Church in Portales.

He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Billy and Shirley Bailey of Roswell and his daughter and son-in-law, Elainea and Russell Rileyof Levelland, TX; four grandchildren, Zachary Dell and Cage Win and Kayla Riley, Danielle Shay Bailey and Alexis and D. J. Lee; ten great-grandchildren, Randen and Rynn Riley, Jameson and Skyler Winchester, Colt O’Brien, Nikki, Leilani and Henry Lee and Canyon and Memphis Scitern; and two brothers, Melrose Heltsley, Jr. of Sharon Grove, KY and bud Bailey of Exeter, CA.  He was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers, Barkley and Roy Edwin Bailey and Marty Juan Heltsley as well by his wife, Velma who died Dec. 2, 2018.

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