Doctor Gertrude M. Bailey, 95, a lifelong Lowell resident, passed away peacefully on Friday, April 2, 2021 at D’Youville Senior Care Center.
A daughter of the late Angus J. Bailey and the late Gertrude (Hall) Bailey, she was born in Lowell on January 12, 1926. One of six siblings, she was educated at Sacred Heart Grammar School and later Keith Hall High School. She furthered her education at Lowell State Teachers College (University of Massachusetts, Lowell) and then earned her Master’s Degree in Education from Fitchburg State University. Finally she graduated from Boston College in 1969 with a doctorate in education, later becoming the first Lowell teacher to earn a doctorate from an accredited university.
A devout catholic, she was a communicant of the former Sacred Heart Church in Lowell and currently Holy Family Parish at St. Marie’s Church in Lowell, where she was an active parishioner.
Doctor Bailey enjoyed traveling, both internationally or in the United States, touring in her motor home. She also spent time playing cribbage, camping, skiing, knitting and crocheting. Her legacy, however, will forever be the lives of the countless others she touched with her abilities as an educator.
She first taught in elementary schools in Springfield for 3 years and then moved to the Bartlett School in Lowell, where she taught for 14 years and served at Lowell State (UML) training teachers. She then served as the principal of the Lincoln School in Lowell for the next 22 years where she developed and implemented many innovative programs that have since been implemented throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. During her long and monumental career as an educator she also studied Spanish in Mexico in the 1970’s to better serve the children within Lowell’s Spanish speaking community. After her initial retirement in 1987 she served with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps serving in Alaska for 3 years as Director of Children’s Services advocating for children of victims of domestic violence and assault.
She also volunteered in many charitable, civic, and cultural endeavors including as a Member of the Board of Trustees at Lowell Catholic High School, Member of the Board of Directors of Family Service of Greater Lowell, Catholic Charities Food Bank, Children’s and Performing Arts Programs at UML, Outdoor Concerts, Lowell Folk Festival (for 24 consecutive years), Winter Fest, Lowell Memorial Auditorium, and athletic competitions, among others. She was a member of the Massachusetts Retired Teachers Association, DKG Society of key women educators and the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians.
Throughout her long and incredible life, Gertrude received many honors, among them The Massachusetts Elementary School Principals’ Association honored her as a finalist in the National Distinguished Principals Award and outstanding alumna of the Sacred Heart School and Keith Hall. She was given the Keys to the City of Lowell in recognition of her lifetime contribution to the City.
Most notably perhaps, in 1991, the Lowell School Committee chose to name the school being built in the Highlands sections of Lowell as the Doctor Gertrude M. Bailey International School in acknowledgment of her outstanding contributions to the City and the students of the City of Lowell. Words can never adequately describe what Doctor Gertrude M. Bailey meant to the City of Lowell, in her own words, Lowell was “her heart and her place” and always will be.
In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by a sister, the late Mary Thecla and a brother, the late Rev. Justin J. Bailey OFM. She is survived by her sister, Miriam (Roark) Provencher and her husband, Joseph, of Dracut; her brothers, Brendon Bailey of Dracut and Kevin Bailey and his wife, Maureen, of Westford as well as many nieces and nephews, grand nieces and nephews and great-grand nieces and nephews and an uncountable number of friends.
While following social distancing guidelines and wearing a mask, all are welcome to attend her visitation on Wednesday, from 4 pm to 7 pm at the McDonough Funeral Home, 14 Highland Street, Lowell, MA 01852 - 978-458-6816. Her Funeral Mass will be offered at Holy Family Parish at St. Marie’s Church, 75 Chamberlain Street, Lowell, MA 01852 on Thursday at 11 a.m. with burial to follow at St. Patrick Cemetery.
For those not able to attend, her Funeral Mass will be live streamed at https://www.facebook.com/McDonoughFuneralHome/videos/