Ron Bailey was born on November 16, 1943 in Baltimore, Maryland and moved with his family to Montana in 1958. He and his brother spent their teen years working on cattle ranches in the summer and fell in love with the outdoors and the western way of life. Later they spent most of their time together fishing, golfing, hunting and hiking in the Montana wilderness. Ron was an avid outdoorsman and loved adventure and had a great sense of humor.

Iitially taught to paint in oil by his brother, William, who was the youngest professional artist in the Flathead Valley, Ron Bailey later studied Fine Art at the University of Montana. He was a popular artist, and while mainly known for his oil paintings he also did watercolors, etchings, and sculpting and participated yearly in both the CM Russell Auction and Art Show and the MONAC Auctions.

He was working on paintings in Great Falls for the upcoming Russell Auction when he was killed in an automobile accident near Whitefish while returning home to spend Thanksgiving with his family on November 22, 1984.

Ron had been married twice and had two daughters, Debby and Juanita, from his first marriage.

Written and submitted by Penny Bailey
Sister-in-law of Ron Bailey

Ron Bailey, who died in a car wreck in 1985, was then in the prime of his career. Along with his brother and fellow artist they moved to the Flathead Valley from Great Falls in the 1960's.

Bailey was the more outgoing and adventurous of the two brothers. They were both the students and close friends of Ace Powell, along with Joe Abbresscia. They often went fishing and painting together through out the Flathead Region.

Ron Bailey is best known today for his vivid alpine glow captured in his regional oil painting featuring snowscapes along with landscapes capturing the beauty of the Flathead Valley.