Owen Terrell

A party to celebrate John&rsquo;s life will be held on Saturday, September 20, 2025, 6-9 p.m., at the Abdallah Shrine Assembly Hall, 5300 Metcalf, Overland Park, KS.
&nbsp;
There will be no funeral service, and in lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to one of the following organizations (please note that the contribution is in John&rsquo;s memory): &nbsp;Kansas City Athletic Club, 845 Armstrong, Kansas City, KS, 66101. &nbsp; KU Endowment to benefit KU Alzheimer&rsquo;s & Dementia Research, 3901 Rainbow Blvd., Mail Stop 3012, Kansas City, KS 66160 (online contributions may be made at: &nbsp;<a href="http://www.kuendowment.org/give).&nbsp;" rel="nofollow">www.kuendowment.org/give).&nbsp;</a>

Celebration of Life for Johnnie H. Bailey, Jr.

Cremation Center of Kansas City

Johnnie Bailey

Johnnie (“John”) H. Bailey, Jr., 85, died at home unexpectedly on August 10, 2025, after experiencing several years of health challenges.  John was born in Kansas City on July 13, 1940, to parents Johnnie Howard Bailey and Sarah Loretta (Lawless) Bailey. Both parents had Native American heritage, of which John was very proud. After a divorce, his mother, to whom John was devoted, raised John and his siblings. During his childhood, John repeatedly changed schools, eventually graduating from East High School. From his grade school years forward, it was evident that John was bright and a gifted athlete. Throughout his youth, numerous teachers, coaches, and other adult mentors provided pivotal guidance. His circumstances required independence, and by age 14, John held down several jobs and owned a car.

John was accepted to the University of Central Missouri on a basketball scholarship. There, he was a star athlete, playing varsity basketball and baseball. Twice, his secondary education was interrupted. First, he joined the United States Army, where he was immediately recruited to play varsity basketball.  However, during paratrooper training, he sustained a serious knee injury and immediately received an honorable discharge. Several quarters after his return to UCM, a close friend suggested that John accompany him to New York City to give modeling a try. There, at around age 21, John’s modeling career flourished. John eventually appeared in many well-known publications, e.g., the New York Times, Life magazine, and Time magazine, including in numerous advertisements as the “Marlboro Man” (although he never smoked cigarettes).  As a side job, he was the chauffeur for fashion designer Bill Blass.

Although his modeling success was a heady experience, John was desperately homesick. For many years, his dream had been to coach high school basketball, and so eventually he returned to UCM. Although he’d lost his basketball scholarship, his modeling earnings were more than sufficient to pay for college. John earned both a Master’s and a Specialist’s degree at UCM. In 1966, John married Saundra Rasnic, and they had two sons before that marriage ended.  John completed his student teaching at Rosedale High School. His first teaching assignment was at Lone Jack, MO, where he served as head basketball coach and spent two years rebuilding that program. From there, he joined Bud Lathrop at Raytown South High School, where he served as Lathrop’s assistant coach. John helped to create a legendary program at South that resulted in two State Basketball Championships.  He remained at South for 30 years, teaching history and social studies, working with Lathrop, and also coaching baseball and assisting the track coach, Bob Craddock. For many years, he also worked as a high school football referee. He and his buddy Bill Matan coached the Raytown Optimist baseball team to two championships in the 3 & 2 League.  John retired from teaching at age 55 to spend more time with his sons and to play in more sports tournaments. Post-retirement, former students frequently sought him out.

John was an extraordinary athlete. He played numerous sports, including semi-pro basketball (he missed the NBA draft cut by one), and competitive fast-pitch softball. John first played handball at the downtown YMCA in his late 30s. Senior player Lou DeLuna saw John fumbling on the courts and took John under his wing. John went on to win many local, state, and national championships, both singles and doubles (with many different partners). In 1997, he was inducted into the Missouri State Handball Hall of Fame. In 2006, he “slammed” at the national handball championships, winning both singles and doubles (with partner Ed Grossenbacher, M.D.).

On December 26, 1987, John married Emily Jane Dark, an attorney he met at the Kansas City Athletic Club. They remained married until his sudden death. Despite their 19-year age difference, they shared a deep commitment and formed a strong partnership. They also enjoyed many adventures together, ranging from blues festivals to opera balls, fly fishing in Colorado and Alaska, float trips and camping, and world travels. Best of all were their happy hours, relaxing and smoking cigars while reviewing the events of their days.

John deeply loved his sons, Matt and Beau. They were constantly present in his thoughts.  He looked forward to their phone calls and visits and was enormously proud of their achievements.  John was also extremely fond of all three of his grandchildren.  He was interested in their education and activities, and loved to watch them engage in sports.  John was tremendously intelligent and witty. He was an animal lover and an outdoorsman.  His understanding of human nature was fascinating. He was approachable, charming, kind, and sensitive (although he could really dish it out!). He was also a loyal friend to many and will be missed immensely.

John was preceded in death by his parents, a twin brother (who died at birth), and a sister, Doris (“June”) Julien. John is survived by his devoted wife, Em; sister Delores Jean (“Jeannie”) Dayley (Ken); sons Matthew (“Matt”) Scott Bailey and Victor Beau (“Beau”) Bailey, D.O. (Danielle); grandchildren Elliot Cowell, and Boden and Mia Bailey; brother-in-law Mike Dark (Diane); sisters-in-law Katie Hilton, Joan Harter (Ed), Chris Ross (Bob), Diana Dark, M.D. (Kirk Wulff); and Beverly Graves, M.D.; numerous nieces/nephews and great nieces/nephews; and hundreds of friends.

John’s health declined drastically during the last years, and he struggled with the loss of his strength and athletic skills. A myriad of health providers worked tirelessly to support his quality of life. The family would like to thank everyone who provided treatment and care for John, especially Drs. Scott Christopher Russell, Randall Thompson, Jacob Smeltzer, David Skolnick, and Braden Rance; and Jessica Malcolm, APRN-NP, and Joanna Owen, RN.  A party to celebrate John’s life will be held on Saturday, September 20, 2025, 6-9 p.m., at the Abdallah Shrine Assembly Hall, 5300 Metcalf, Overland Park, KS. There will be no funeral service, and in lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to one of the following organizations (please note that the contribution is in John’s memory):  Kansas City Athletic Club, 845 Armstrong, Kansas City, KS, 66101.   KU Endowment to benefit KU Alzheimer’s & Dementia Research, 3901 Rainbow Blvd., Mail Stop 3012, Kansas City, KS 66160 (online contributions may be made at: www.kuendowment.org/give).

When words can’t fully express what we want to say, sometimes a small gift can. Visit our Memorial Store for personalised gifts, keepsake jewellery and to plant a memorial tree.

We use cookies to improve your browsing experience and analyse site traffic. 
See our <privacyLink>Privacy Policy</privacyLink>.

<firstParagraph>We also use third-party cookies that help us analyse how you use this website, store your preferences, and provide content and advertisements that are relevant to you. These cookies will only be stored on your browser with your prior consent.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies, but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience.</secondParagraph>

<firstParagraph>We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>The cookies that are categorised as 'Necessary' are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionality of the site.</secondParagraph>

Advertising cookies are used to provide visitors with personalised adverts based on the pages you previously visited, and to analyse the effectiveness of ad campaigns.

Advertising

Analytics cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

Analytics

Functional cookies help perform certain functions, such as sharing the website’s content on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

Functional

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

Necessary

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyse the key performance indicators of the website, which helps deliver a better user experience for visitors.

Performance

Customise Cookie Preferences

Verification Successful!

New Message

The following files could not be uploaded

Ways you can honour {memorialName}'s memory:

Donation Link

Upcoming Event

Featured Mementos

Welcome message

Select an item to highlight

Add a highlighted item

Customise which items you’d like to highlight on the memorial

Create Account

Become a Keeper

As a free {brandName} user, you will only be able to make 5 photos and videos public.

As a free {brandName} user, only the first five (5) Mementos are visible to page visitors. You can change which Mementos are public by dragging and dropping a photo or video into one of the first five positions. Upgrading to {brandName} Plus will make all 10 selected Mementos visible to the public.

All Mementos

This option is only available to Keeper Plus users.

To allow yourself and the wider community to view all images and videos, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of these mementos, upgrade your account to Keeper Plus.

This memento is not visible to visitors

Your community has posted {itemCount} more pictures and videos that honour {firstName}'s memory. To view them all, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of each, this account will need to upgrade to Keeper Plus.

View all images and videos with Keeper Plus

Our Obituary Assistant helps you craft a meaningful life story in minutes. Review and edit every detail, and unlock more features with Keeper Plus.

Obituary Assistant

Spend as much time as you need working on your Memorial page before it is visible to the public, and much more, when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Save Page as Draft

Create unlimited event pages and unlock a suite of powerful features to help you seamlessly coordinate event details, invitations, and more when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Event

Create a complete picture of your loved one’s community and add unlimited family and friends to Loved Ones when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Loved One

Create unlimited Memorials — and unlock unlimited images and videos, event pages, and advanced privacy settings — to help you keep memories alive when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Memorial Page

Add unlimited Stories to highlight all the things that made your loved one unique, from milestones, images, albums, documents, locations and much more.

Highlight Stories

Upgrading to Keeper Plus means you can add additional Keepers to help you gather Mementos and tributes, approve content, build a family tree, and tell {firstName}'s story on Keeper.

Invite Keepers with Keeper Plus

Upload and display unlimited photos and videos, use unlimited Story templates to highlight key moments, and allow friends and family to download their own copies when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Better Mementos with Keeper Plus

To access memorial-related configurations that control the display of the banner, upgrade to Keeper Plus.

This configuration is not available on your current plan

Create a meaningful link path to add a personal touch to {firstName}'s memorial.

Custom memorial link

Gift Messages

SENDING AS A GIFT?

Basket

About 1-800 Flowers

"Flowers were beautiful and they arrived in time before the funeral. Thank you and I will purchase more in the future.!"

Tears of Joy

"Beautiful flowers. I’ve always enjoyed sending them to my loved ones as a sympathy gesture, and they have always loved them very much. Thanks for helping people feel good when receiving them."

Condolences

"This was true to the photo, and it was good to know the family took the arrangement after the service."

Beautiful arrangement. Perfect size for the service.

Some of the wonderful things our customers say about us

We’re here to make it a little easier, with thoughtful gifts for the service and home, along with expert advice on how to be there during a difficult time.

Flowers

Gift Hampers

Express Your Deepest Sympathy

About Us

Perfect Sympathy Gift

No one is meant to grieve alone

Peace and love

Product is made, packaged, and sent with love

Keepsakes

How to add your gift message

Packaging Information

Shipping information

Add a Personalised Charm to the Ornament:

Other Keepsakes

Install KeeperQR onto any headstone, urn, or other memorial in minutes.

Install

Use your phone or tablet to scan the unique code — no other tools required!

Scan

All three of our elegant KeeperQR designs are printed on durable, weather-resistant aluminium, designed for indoor and outdoor use on headstones and urns, memorial benches and trees, or other monuments to your loved one’s life.

Built to Last

Get <discount>50% off</discount> Keeper Plus with your KeeperQR purchase

Keeper Basic

Learn About Our Plans

Connect the physical and digital worlds to share your loved one’s life story with friends and family, no matter where they are.

KeeperQR Memorial QR Code Plaques

Planting a memorial tree or bereavement tree is a unique, environmentally conscious way to pay tribute and honour the memory of your loved one. Keeper Memorials is supporting American Forests to plant whitebark pine trees as well as thornscrub trees in select regions of the US and Canada.

Memorial Trees

KeeperQR is designed to pair seamlessly with a Keeper digital memorial. Use our FREE, intuitive tools to create biographies, maps, and timelines, share photos and videos, and more, with customisable features built to commemorate your loved one’s life story.

Powered by Keeper

Lifetime access with no hidden costs or subscription traps

One-off payment

Keeper is SOC 2 compliant, keeping your memories safe and secure.

Data protection guaranteed

We deliver your QR Codes to any corner of the world

Worldwide Delivery

Our durable and beautiful QR code plaques create a seamless connection between your loved one’s physical memorial and their digital memorial, allowing visitors to their final resting place instant access to their life legacy.

Memorial.

Honour their memory, share their story

A KeeperQR is a weather-resistant plaque with a custom QR code that links directly to your loved one’s digital memorial. When placed on a headstone, urn, bench, or tree, it allows friends and family to scan and view their life story instantly.

What is a KeeperQR?

They’re made to withstand the elements outdoors and adhere to most surfaces.

Where can I place the KeeperQR?

How does it work?

Frequently asked questions

KeeperQR

E-Certificate Design

Plant Memorial Trees as a Living Tribute

BRAZIL

Canada

FLORIDA

OREGON

Memorial Project Reach

Memorial trees start at {price} per tree, with discounts for multiple trees

Our Commitment

Gift Hampers & Food

Keeper Plus

QR Plaques

Keeper’s Featured Products

A Greener Way to Remember

Learn about our partners:

Help Us Complete Your Order

Remembrance Store

Using your unique link, your client can sign up for Keeper and create a Memorial for a loved one. Once the Memorial page is completed by the family, it will appear on your microsite and website. You will be the primary Keeper Administrator of the Memorial, along with the family member who created the page.

Invite Your Clients to Create a Memorial

Invite Families

Your Email Notifications

Notifications

Email Unsubscribe Settings

Other settings

With your active Keeper PLUS subscription, you get unlimited access to a suite of powerful features:

Allow visitors to download a local copy of all photos and videos.

Download Media

Create a custom and meaningful URL, unique to your loved one, for each Memorial page.

Editable URL

Plan public or private events and invite your loved ones.

Event Pages

Add images and create profile pages to illustrate the history and genealogy of your loved one.

Family Tree

Invite unlimited administrators to help you manage every Memorial page you have.

Keeper Administrators

Visitors enjoy unrestricted access to all uploaded images and videos.

Unlimited Media

Create unlimited Memorial pages for your loved ones.

Memorial Pages

You will be able to upload Full HD videos instead of embedded links.

Video Uploading

Your Profile

Add a business user

Edit a business user

Are you sure you want to delete these users from these brands? You will need to manually add these users again.

If the user is part of multiple brands, you will have to delete the user from each one individually.

Delete Users from Brands?

User Settings & Notifications

Users

Are you sure you want to delete these users? This action will revoke their privileges across all brands.

Are you sure you want to delete this user? This action will revoke their privileges across all brands.

Delete Users from all Brands?

Delete User from Brand?

Are you sure you want to delete {totalDeletes} from this user?

Delete Roles from this User?

Are you sure you want to delete this user from this brand? You will need to manually add this user again.

Delete User from this Brand?

Requires users to confirm their email every time they would like to share a tribute on a Memorial page.

When Email Tribute Validation is turned OFF, guest users do not need to confirm their email address before their tribute is published.

When Email Tribute Validation is turned ON, Guest users will need to confirm their email address before their tribute is published. They will receive an email with a confirmation link they must click.

Requires users to confirm their email only the first time they would like to share a tribute on a Memorial page.

Email Tribute Validation

If Reported Content is turned OFF, content that has been reported will remain public until it has been Approved or Removed from the Requests Centre.

If Reported Content is turned ON, content that has been reported will be hidden until it has been Approved or Removed from the Requests Centre.

Hide Reported Content

Language

Your email notifications

Email notifications

Are you sure you want to delete the memorial for {name}? This action will permanently remove the memorial from the system.

Delete memorial?

When Memorial Request Moderation is turned OFF, memorials will be published automatically.

When Memorial Request Moderation is turned ON, memorials will only be published if and when you approve them. Memorials can be published or deleted in the Requests centre.

Memorial Request Moderation

Using your unique link, your client can sign up for Keeper and create a Memorial for a loved one. Once the Memorial page has been completed by the family, it will appear on your microsite and website. You will be the main Keeper Administrator of the Memorial, along with the family member who created the page.

Moderation settings

This will permanently delete your account. The business account and business page will not be deleted. To deactivate your account, another admin user must be assigned to your organisation.

Are you sure you want to deactivate this account?

When Override Tribute Moderation is turned OFF, the tribute moderation settings on Memorial pages will be hidden, and other Keepers cannot override the tribute moderation settings specified by your organisation.

When Override Tribute Moderation is turned ON, other Keepers can view and change the tribute moderation settings of the Memorial pages they manage. (Each Memorial page will default to the organisation’s tribute moderation setting upon creation.)

Override Tribute Moderation

If AI Content Moderation is OFF, text areas containing profane language will be published. Tributes can, however, be reported and removed at any time.

If AI Content Moderation is ON, text areas containing profane language will not be published and the user will receive an error message.

Johnnie John Bailey Obituary | Cremation Center of Kansas City