PARSONSFIELD- Walter Hampton Baily, of Parsonsfield, died peacefully with his family by his side on February 20, 2023, at Gosnell Memorial Hospice House in Scarborough. He was 97 years old.
Born at home in Philadelphia on September 29, 1925, he traced his ancestry to English and Irish Quakers who migrated to the Delaware River Valley in the early 1700's. Following high school, he enlisted in the Navy at age 17 and served on a wooden minesweeper as a signalman in the Pacific and Panama Canal during WW II. Walter earned a bachelor's degree from Temple University, a master's degree from the Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work, and a doctorate in Social Work from Catholic University. His long career included child welfare, public health, and social planning services at the local and county level in Bucks County, PA, as well as hospital social work in Philadelphia. Fifty years ago, he and his wife, Thelma Falk Baily, moved to an old farm in Parsonsfield, Maine, from which they undertook teaching positions at the University of Maine Portland-Gorham, the University of Maine at Augusta, and Castleton State College in Vermont. Together, they formed a consulting partnership and served child welfare agencies around the U.S. and Canada, focusing on child abuse prevention and protection strategies for practitioners. They published extensively on the topic. His final professional role was as a research fellow at the University of New Hampshire, for which he studied aspects of family violence.
In retirement, Walter became involved in town advocacy projects in Parsonsfield, particularly with respect to protecting ground-water aquifers, and he wrote a book describing those efforts. He stewarded his family's forest and wetlands with an eye toward habitat conservation and long-term preservation. Walter wrote a book about his experience as a prostate cancer survivor, and he regularly contributed book reviews to several local publications. He loved to hike and snowshoe in his woods, sail from Potts Harbor in South Harpswell, undertake carpentry projects, repair cars, and spend time with family and many dogs over the years, all of whom adored him. He was a person filled with a strong Christian faith, kindness, a lively sense of humor and joy, and his family is very grateful for his long, active life. A week before he died, he was still carrying firewood into the house for the woodstove.
Walter is survived by his children Ingrid, Peter, and Kenneth, daughter-in-law Christine, grandchildren Isabelle and Ethan, and six nieces and nephews. His wife Thelma predeceased him in 1996. His family is deeply grateful for the many kindnesses of friends and neighbors over the decades. A memorial service will be held in the spring. Memorial contributions may be made to:
Francis Small Heritage Trust
PO Box 414
Limerick, ME 04048
(a land conservation charity in the Sacopee Valley)
Arrangements have been entrusted to Poitras, Neal & York Funeral Home, Cornish, www.mainefuneral.com