Julian Edwin Bailes

A memorial service will be held on Thursday, February 4, 2010, for Julian Edwin Bailes, who departed this life on Monday, February 1, in Shreveport, LA, at the age of 95 years, as a result of complications of a stroke. Judge Bailes was born in Longview, TX and was a life long resident of Natchitoches Parish. The service will be held in Natchitoches at Blanchard-St Denis Funeral Home, 848 Keyser Avenue, at 1:00 pm. The family will receive visitors at the funeral home on Wednesday, February 3 from 5 to 8 pm. Officiating will be Pastors Paul Haines and Chris Hough. Pallbearers will be grandsons Dr. David Alan Scott, Joseph Payne Williams, Jr, Richard Bray Williams and Michael Webb Lipe; and nephews Russell Bailes, Jr and Richard Bailes. He was preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Nell Sandefur Bailes, his parents, Larry Thaddeus Bailes and Ethel Ballard Bailes; his first wife, Georgia Butler Bailes; five brothers, Larry Thaddeus Bailes, Jr, Allison Arthur Bailes, Russell Frederick Bailes, Louis Wilburn Bailes and Milton George Bailes; and one sister, Ruby Clarice Bailes. He attended Natchitoches High School, the Louisiana Normal College, and LSU School of Law. While working his way through law school as an elevator operator in the Louisiana State Capital, he was an eye witness and last surviving witness of the assassination of Senator Huey Long. Following the war, he returned to Natchitoches and resumed his law practice and subsequently served at all levels of the judiciary in the State of Louisiana, including City, District, Court of Appeals, and the Louisiana Supreme Court. He was one of the longest serving judges in the State of Louisiana, with 49 years of continuous service on the bench. During World War II, he served 4 years in the United States Army, as a First Lieutenant and rifle company commander including a year of combat in Europe. He participated in the Battle of the Bulge in the U.S. 7th Army. He was wounded in an artillery strike and awarded two purple hearts. After surgery and a brief convalescence he returned to the front lines to rejoin his unit in combat, ending in Berlin as the Allied Forces secured victory in the European theater. He is survived by his five children, Georgia Ann Bailes Scott and husband, Homer, of Natchitoches, Juliana Bailes Lipe and husband Jim of Shreveport, Sara Nell Bailes Williams and husband Joseph Payne of Natchitoches, Dr. Julian Edwin Bailes, Jr and wife Colleen of Morgantown, WV and Emily Bailes Haines and husband Paul, of Shreveport. He is also survived by his 18 grandchildren, Dr. David Alan Scott, Debra Ann Scott Pilley, Janet Kathryn Scott Davis, Eva Marie Scott, Alison Leigh Lipe McMurtrey, Michael Webb Lipe, Joseph Payne, Jr, Richard Bray and Nathaniel Garland Williams, Julian Edwin, III, Megan Esther, William Jackson, Melanie Margaret and Clint Edward Bailes, Katherine Grace, Rachel Elizabeth, Sarah Ruth and Benjamin Paul Haines. In addition, he had 21 great grandchildren, Leigh Anne, Elizabeth Kay and Charles David Scott, Justin Boyd, Dillon Scott, Gretchen Marie and Kathryn Ann White, Paul Michael, Jr, Stephen Orr and William Joseph Davis, Christian Scott Pilley, Susannah Camille and Elizabeth Jeanne Lipe, Juliana Colette McCloskey, Alexandra Crosby and Jordan Whitney McMurtrey, Nathaniel Garland, Jr, Joseph Payne, III, Blanchard Jerrel, Daniel Rees and Adelle Isabella Williams. The family wishes to express their heartfelt appreciation to Dr. Robert Hernandez, Dr. David Green, Dr. Stephen Cassiere and Dr. David Cavanaugh, and the nurses, therapists and staff of Willis Knighton Pierremont Hospital and LifeCare Hospital. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home, PO Box 4196, Monroe, LA 71211.