LEE BAILEY
Laurence Lee Bailey, age 75 of Duluth, died May 21, 2025. A memorial service will be held on Sunday, June 29th, at 2:00 p.m. at Duluth First United Methodist Church. Visitation will begin at 1:00 p.m. in the church’s Veterans Memorial Gathering Room.
Lee was born in Tampa, Florida during Gasparilla to Charles Fleming Bailey, Sr. and Beauford Berneice Bailey (née Thrower) on February 3, 1950. Lee was raised in Tampa with his brothers and sister, and was proud of his family’s roots in the city reaching back to its founding in 1850. His was a childhood of roaming Sunset Drive, riding bikes through their Hyde Park neighborhood, and summers spent at the family beach house at Indian Rocks (one of the first built on the island in 1914).
Lee had a penchant for math, winning several competitions along the way and, after high school, attended the University of the South, Emory University and graduated from Florida State University with a major in Applied Math in Computer Science and a minor in Music. He subsequently earned an MBA from Georgia State University. His mathematical skills resulted in Lee working in the field of computer science for companies like IBM and Harbinger, and universities like Georgia Tech, Emory University, and Georgia State University.
Both Lee’s talent and passion for music came mostly from the Bailey side of his family and his father, Charlie Bailey. He had fond memories of family sing-a-longs at home and on car trips, where little Lee sang the parts in between his brother Chip’s alto and his sister Charlalee’s soprano. A multi-talented musician, Lee played the guitar (6 and 12 string), the bass, and the piano. ln high school, his band traveled around Florida and even made a couple albums.
When he moved to Athens, Georgia, after college graduation, Lee was a singer, songwriter, and guitarist for the bands Phil and the Blanks and The Lee Bailey Band. He even met Gregg Allman at a gig and took a trip to Macon to jam at the Big House. Later when he lived in Atlanta and Duluth, Georgia, Lee sang in choirs at Northside United Methodist Church and Duluth First United Methodist Church. Lee also sang in the Chamber Chorale and the Atlanta Sacred Choral, where he performed at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, and at Carnegie Hall in New York. Until late in life, Lee shared his passion for music, playing reunion shows with his bands and singing to his grandchildren, Sybil and Elyse.
Lee loved to learn. He was an intellectual and (some may say) a philosopher. He could spend hours talking, with great intelligence, on subjects ranging from the world economy to religion. He became somewhat of a family historian, compiling dozens of pages of family histories through researching census records and old newspaper clippings. He loved spending time with family and friends at the family lakehouse on Lake Rabun, where multiple guitars were always present on the front porch and a cool breeze off the lake ready to greet him.
Lee had three children, Sage, Charlie, and Laurence. He was a dedicated father. He shared with them his passion for music, history, and religion. They all grew up with the sounds of The Beatles (whom Lee would defend to anyone as the best band in history), Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, and Traffic drifting through the home and in the car. Lee took his children on vacations to places of import in American culture, including Washington, D.C, Gettysburg, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Yellowstone. As his children neared college age, Lee took them on tours of universities to share his joy for learning. And, throughout their lives, Lee engaged his children in hours of discussion on music, politics, and religion, with a passion that comes from deep love and a desire to impart it. Lee was most proud of his children.
Lee met his wife Sharon at age 64. They fell in love quickly, and the two were married shortly thereafter. Sharon and Lee would often enjoy watching documentaries and listening to music, including some Lee would play. They often walked the neighborhood and down to downtown Duluth to catch music at Eddie Owens Presents or the Town Green. They loved to travel to the mountains of Georgia and North Carolina (Hendersonville, NC was a particular favorite) and the coasts of Florida multiple times every year. They were co-parents to a dog named Scout, and a cat named Kiki. Sharon stood faithfully by his side, caring for Lee over the last months of his life.
Lee is survived by his loving wife, Sharon Bailey; his children, Sage Weatherby (Alex), Charlie Bailey (Pallavi), and Laurence Bailey; grandchildren, Sybil Weatherby and Elyse Weatherby; sister, Charlalee Sedgwick; brothers, Edward Church (Pat) and George Church (Debbie); stepchildren, Kay Davis (Jacob), Tina Hayes (Dwayne) and Lisa Campbell (Tony); step grandchildren, Nathan Davis, J.J. Davis, Heather Hayes, Trisha Hayes and Logan Campbell. He was preceded in death by his parents, and his brothers Charles (Chip) Bailey and Charles Leith-Buchanan.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to the Atlanta Master Chorale, P.O. Box 133201, Atlanta GA 30333, online at AtlantaMasterChorale.org/give.