Batavia food pantry, toy drive organizer Mildred Bailey dies at 87
Mildred Bailey was committed to helping the people of Batavia as long as she could, and that's what the 87-year-old did right up until her death Tuesday night.
Bailey was found dead in her home Tuesday after she missed a meeting she had called about collecting school clothes and money for shoes for needy Batavia children, said Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke.
"Her commitment to Batavia was through and through," said Schielke. "The epitaph for her is 'Boy, she gave it her all.'"
Bailey was co-chairman of the Batavia ACCESS Committee's annual Christmas toy giveaway for 28 years, along with Ruth Johnsen.
She and her late husband, Roy, founded the Batavia Interfaith Food Pantry and Clothes Closet, and also drove around town picking up food donations and taking elderly people to doctor appointments.
She was soft-spoken, but she wasn't afraid to speak up to get help for Batavia's poorer residents, particularly its children. She spoke at schools, wrote letters to businesses, and maintained a list of donors to help her get cash and supplies.
"When you gave a dollar to Mildred, it was going to do some serious work," said Schielke, who met the Baileys in the early 1960s when they moved to the northeast neighborhood where he lived. "She kind of unofficially adopted me."
Just Tuesday morning she had called to ask him to have "her boys" at the Batavia Fire Department come pick up toys people had dropped off at her house for this year's Christmas toy drive.
"She was doing everything she could to help her fellow human beings up to the end," Schielke said.
Why?
"There are so many good young people in Batavia, you must lift them up and support them," Bailey said in a 1999 Daily Herald article about the toy drive.
The drive is set up so people could "shop" for appropriate toys, books, games, hats, gloves and scarves for their children. The location is disclosed only to the patrons and volunteers, so that patrons' identity is protected and their dignity preserved.
In 2000, the Baileys were named "Citizens of the Year" by the Batavia Chamber of Commerce.
Bailey was born in Kewanee, one of 10 children. She is survived by her son, Roy; two grandchildren; and a sister.
A wake will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at Moss Family Funeral Home, 209 S. Batavia Ave. A funeral will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday at Trinity Chapel Church of God in Christ, 404 Lathem St., Batavia.
Memorial donations may be sent to the Mildred Bailey Memorial Fund, in care of U.S. Bank, 808 W. State St., Geneva, IL 60134.