After a five-year fight, Dorothy T. Bailey, 63, succumbed to cancer Oct. 3 at NYU Tish Hospital in New York. She was a woman of remarkable character and strength.
Born in Teaneck to the late Lester DeVries and Mary Parsons, Dorothy left high school at age 17 to accept a full scholarship to New York University where she studied business and finance as a university scholar. She received her B.A. in accounting from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business and worked on Wall Street for 20 years, rising to the position of chief operating officer and business manager of institutional client services at Merrill Lynch, at the time one of the highest business positions in the firm occupied by a woman. Since that time, Dorothy has been a strong advocate and mentor for women in business. Even during her cancer treatment, Dorothy continued her business pursuits co-founding Bailey Allen Advisors, Stanton Advisors and working as a career coach.
Dorothy raised her family in Rumson where she devoted her time to volunteering and service throughout her community. She volunteered in the religious education program at Holy Cross Church. She was a volunteer and committee chair for the Rumson PTO and a trustee of the Rumson Education Foundation, where she served as a co-president, helping to lead the Chromebook Project, one of REF’s largest grant awards to the Rumson School District. She also started a group through Lunch Break collecting donated prom dresses and jewelry for distribution to underprivileged high school girls.
Her interests included family ski trips to Stratton, Vermont and going to the theater, with season tickets to both Two River Theater in Red Bank and Roundabout Theater in New York City – the city she forever adored.
Dorothy is survived by her husband Michael and three loving children, Elizabeth, Rachel and Samuel, as well as her brothers, Peter and Paul, and sisters, Ann and Margaret. We all will miss Dorothy terribly.
A wake was held Oct. 7 at the John E. Day Funeral Home, Red Bank. A Mass of Christian Burial was held Oct. 8 at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, Rumson. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Lunch Break Red Bank at donatenow.networkforgood.org/lunchbreak.
Please visit Dorothy’s memorial website available at johnedayfuneralhome.com for further information.
The article originally appeared in the October 8 – 14, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
