James Ivo Bairey

October 3, 1929 - March 2, 2001

Peter's Dad, Jim Bairey, passed away on Friday, March 2, 2001. He and his wife of 24 years, Louwana, had recently purchased a long-haul truck, with which they planned to "retire" and travel the country, hauling loads to pay the way. Jim had it out on its maiden voyage, hauling a load to Florida. Near Daytona Beach, just after midnight Eastern Time on Thursday, March 1, he and another truck collided in the fog, causing severe injuries. Jim died of them the next day, while his family was en route from Oregon and Washington to be with him. This page is for those family members who didn't have a chance to make the trip to Florida, or to attend the services held on March 10, and to hopefully answer questions they may have about what happened. The answers and photos are disturbing, so please only continue reading if you feel able.

The accident itself seems to have happened as Jim was traveling on the Old Dixie Highway in the fog. The other truck had just merged onto the highway when Jim struck it from behind. The specifics of the accident are unclear, as the damage to both vehicles seems to indicate a much more serious accident than one truck rear-ending another. Jim's truck, a Volvo, seems to have behaved as designed, with the cab popping off of the wheelbase and falling clear of the accident, landing upside down nearby. The engine disintegrated, and the trailer itself didn't sustain much damage. When the responding Florida officer arrived, Jim was alert and able to answer questions, and the officer apparently felt the accident was less serious than it turned out to be. His accident report was only four lines long, and he doesn't appear to have interviewed Jim about it. Jim himself was wearing his seat belt, and the airbag did deploy, but the damage to the truck was serious enough that the drivers seat, with Jim in it, had to be removed from the cab in order to get him out. He was taken to Halifax Medical Center, a trauma unit which is blocks from Daytona Speedway and therefore likely has an excellent response system for automobile accident victims.

Once at Halifax, it became clear that Jim's injuries were more severe than originally thought. His arms, legs, collarbone, and pelvis were broken, and he had sustained internal injuries. Though receiving more than 60 units of blood by noon on Thursday, his blood pressure remained dangerously low. Were told that he was unconscious the entire time he was the hospital. Louwana was contacted around 10 am Pacific Time on Thursday, and when the phone was held up to Jim's ear, the nurses say he moved his eyes towards it. As word spread throughout the family, arrangements for family members to fly out to Florida were quickly put into place. Louwana was quickly taken to her daughter Cari's house, near Seattle, and Jim's son Patrick and her daughter Jennifer joined her there. They were able to catch a flight to Jacksonville at 9 pm that evening. Jim's daughter Judy, sons Chris and Peter, and myself, Peter's wife Steph, caught a flight from Portland just before midnight. We almost didn't make it on the plane, as Chris forgot his picture ID in the rush to get to the airport. Holding down the fort at home were daughters-in-law Patty and Kristina, step-daughter Cari, step-son Alan, son-in-law Tom, granddaughters Melissa, Chelsea, Jaime, Jessica, and Emily, grandson Ivo, step-grandchildren Lindsay, Alicia, Ashli, and Michael, and ex-wife Bette. His son Jimmy, who lives in Hawaii, wasn't able to fly in time.

I'm unable to report when Louwana, Jennifer, and Pat got the news, but we called Oregon as soon as we landed in Florida, and were told that Jim had passed away while wewere in flight. It was a sad, unfortunate scene in the airport, certainly not the best place to receive such news. After a little break to recover, a rental car was obtained, and the drive to Daytona Beach begun.

Flat, muggy Florida

Florida was hot, humid, and flat. It was approximately 75 degrees and 90% humidity. This picture was taken on the drive north to Daytona Beach from Orlando. There were many trees, palm and white pine and others, but the ground they grew on was all flat like this, and none of them were very tall. It was unsettling for those of us from the Pacific Northwest, used to mountains and hills and diverse plant life, and added to the dreamlike unreality of the trip.

Bike Week 2001 in Daytona Beach

The highway system has an unconscionably poor system of signage, especially for a tourist state, with exceptionally few signs giving the mileage to the location in question, and often only a tiny single sign noting interchanges. The toll roads were intrusive, with multiple stops on a single highway, charging what seemed an arbitrary amount - sometimes 50 cents, sometimes $1.25, sometimes more. The broad, park-like shoulders and median seemed an unrefuseable invitation for people to pull off the road for any reason. It seemed safer to pass cars at the side of the road than it was to drive with them, though, as Florida drivers are really aggressive, changing lanes and passing on the right constantly. On top of everything, it was "Bike Week," meaning the town was filled with thousands of bikers and cops and the noise of Harley Davidson motorcycles. However, complaining about the weather, roads, and traffic gave everyone a way to displace their emotions for a time.

Halifax Medical Center, on the only hill in Florida

At the hospital, the front desk was on the lookout for family members, who were directed to the Intensive Care Unit to meet with the chaplain. A private conference room was set aside for the crying, talking, and planning that followed everyone's viewing of the body. It was by far the worst moment of the trip. By this time, everyone had been up for 30 hours, with only fitful dozing on the plane rides, and no one had been able to eat.

Photos of Jim's body are available for those who truly feel they must see them, but they will by no means be posted online. Please contact me for information.

In the private room, a multitude of cell phones was in use, with calls being made to other family members, funeral homes, hotels, and the police department. The lack of information about the crash was maddening. Jim's children had just been through this process of setting up services and so on in December, when their step-father, John, passed away, but that experience wasn't of much help, as the situations were so different. Everyone needed sleep and food and a break from the whole ordeal, but first came a 60-mile journey to the hotel in Orlando, through rush-hour traffic. The directions weren't the most efficient, but they were accurate, and the hotel was reached after an hour. The reservations were somehow lost by the hotel, but consecutive rooms obtained anyway. After plans were made for the next day and plane reservations acquired, everyone ate and showered, and some people managed to sleep while others talked into the night. The phones were ringing off the hook well past midnight Eastern Time, as friends and family called to see what they could do.

At 7 am Saturday morning, which was 4 am to the family, everyone got up and checked out of the hotel. It had been decided that almost everyone would go view the remains of the truck, to try and get Jim's belongings out of it.

The cab - passenger door is facing camera, upside down. Engine is gone. Officer in brown is climbing inside through windshield area.

This was the second hardest part of the trip thus far. The total destruction of the truck was unbelievable. There was indeed blood and shattered glass throughout, and so much was unrecognizable. There were many possessions inside, including clothing, packaged meals, paperwork, appliances, and so on. The investigating officer, whom Pat talked into rearranging his schedule, came out to talk with the family and get information. Jim's log book was found, showing that he hadn't been driving for a long period before the accident. It was very current and organized. Louwana thought Jim had been about to find a place to rest before going to pick up a load on Friday morning.

The wheelbase of the truck

The front of the cab, upside down

the trailer, which sustained little damage

Louwana wasn't ready to leave Florida, and Pat offered to stay with her and Jennifer while arrangements for transporting the possessions and so on were finalized. Judy, Chris, and Peter were all eager to get back to the children and loved ones who had stayed behind in Oregon and Washington. While Pat, Louwana, and Jennifer packed the items for the trip to stay with Walter and Judy, who are relations in Florida, we went back to Halifax Medical Center to pick up Chris' identification, which had been sent by UPS to the hospital overnight. Everyone was physically and emotionally exhausted, and there was still a cross-country plane ride for everyone to look forward to.

Chris finally gets his ID

the miserable plane ride back

Judy

I tried to stay positive, but showed more strain than I thought

The Funeral

Jim's obituary, below, came out on Friday. I have edited it for spelling, grammar, and clarity.

JAMES IVO "JIM" BAIREY

James Ivo "Jim" Bairey, an 11 year resident of Mineral, Washington passed away on March 2, in Daytona Beach, Florida, as a result of a truck accident.

Born Oct. 3, 1929 in Garrison, North Dakota to Ivo James and Mary (Hailey) Bairey. Jim moved to Salem, Oregon at the age of 5 years old. He there attended and graduated from Sacred Heart Academy.

Following graduation, he entered the United States Navy in July of 1946, where he served in the Navy Air Transport Squadron, and received the World War II Victory Medal. Following his discharge in July of 1948, he returned home, and was married to Elizabeth Jean Staab in June of 1949. They later divorced in 1978.

Jim lived in Port Angeles, Washington for 22 years, where he worked as an accountant for the Del Guzzi Construction Company for several years, and as an office manager for three years for Priest Logging. He worked in management in the logging industry for several years, and owned and operated his own logging trucks.

In November of 1978, he was married to Louwana M. (Harper) Lamb in Reno. In 1987 Jim and Louwana moved to Puyallup where they worked as team long haul truck drivers, moving to Mineral in 1989, where he worked for Jerry Sorenson Logging. In 1998 he returned to long haul trucking. Jim was a member of the Mineral Lions Club, and the Port Angeles Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Jim was a loving husband, father, grandpa, and "Poppy". He is survived by his loving wife Louwana, at the family home; his son Jim Bairey and daughter-in-law Christine Evangelista of Hawaii; Patrick and Kristine Bairey, and their children Melissa and Chelsea of Auburn, Washington; Christopher and Patricia Bairey and their children Jaime, Jessica, and Ivo of Silverdale, Washington; Peter and Steph Bairey of Tigard, Oregon; Judy and Tom Weimer and their daughter Emily of Salem, Oregon; his step-children Jennifer and Mike Mellum and their children Lindsay and Michael of Cameno Island; Alan Lamb and his daughter Alicia of Longview, Washington; Cari Green and her daughter Ashli of Tumwater, Washington; his aunts Chloe McBride of Silverton, Oregon; Ruby Hickman of Salem, Oregon; Nettie Hailey of Concord, California; his uncle Don Johnson of Warden, Washington; his father- and mother-in-law Richard and Rose Harper of Wenatchee, Washington; Ronald Harper and family of Aberdeen, Washington; Rick Harper and family of Malone, Washington.

Visitation will be held on Friday, March 9, at the Morton Chapel of the Brown Mortuary from 3 P. M. until 6 P.M. and Saturday, March 10, from 9 A.M. until Noon.

Funeral Services will follow at 2 P.M. at the Chapel with Pastor Tim Clarkson officiating. A reception will be held at the Morton Senior Center. Memorials may be made to Polio Research.

Peter and I went out to Louwana's place in Mineral, Washington on Wednesday, March 7. Louwana's daughters, Jennifer and Cari, had been with her since the accident, and needed to get back to their families for a few days. Most of the arrangements were already in place, so there wasn't much to do besides take stock of the situation of the property, and try to get Louwana to eat, which was pretty hard. We tried to help ready space for the visitors we knew were coming, but Louwana wanted to do it herself. The phone rang off the hook every day, with friends and family calling to see what they could do, or to get information about the scheduled service. We had to bring our two dogs, since it was going to be an extended trip away from home, and Louwana was very kind about letting them stay inside. They behaved well, though I was in a highly-stressed state most of the time, worrying about them.

There's no question that some work needs to be done on the property, and Peter and I intend to spend as many weekends as it takes, getting things in order. The situation isn't awful, but, as happens when death is sudden and unexpected, there were half-finished projects that need completing. Offers of help have come to Louwana from all quarters, and it's likely that everything can be finished quickly.

As the week went by, family members began arriving. One of the local hotels, The Seasons, was kind enough to arrange a special rate for people attending the funeral. Other businesses in town were also stepping up to help: the banks arranged for a reception at the Senior Center for Satuday afternoon, complete with a wonderful buffet of home-cooked dishes. The florist was making a daily trip to Louwana's place, delivering beautiful arrangements and plants, until the house was overflowing.

Ivo, Peter, Jessica, and Jaime

Louwana's house began filling up. On Friday night, there were 19 at dinner, which Tom and Judy provided. More were on the way. Peter and I were taking up a whole room of the house, with the dogs being inside, plus we needed some private time to ourselves before the funeral, so we got a hotel room for the one night. Saturday morning, we and some of Peter's brothers' families went out for breakfast, to catch up and talk about Jim.

Patty, Chris, Jaime, Jess, Sport, Christine, and Ivo

Upon leaving the café, we were surprised by Peter's other brother, Pat, and his family, including their mom, Bette. Bette hadn't seen Sport in a few years, as he lives in Hawaii and doesn't often come to the mainland.

Bette kisses Sport

It was starting to feel like we could double the population of the town, once enough family members arrived.

Sport teases Pat about his suit

It still wasn't time to head to the services, so everyone hung out and talked in the hotel.

Time passing slowly

Finally, it was time to go to the funeral.

Louwana arrives

As others filed in and found seats, Emily played the violin, and Ashli and Alicia played the flute.

Alicia

The mortuary was quickly filled with friends and family.

A great turnout

After the services, Jim received a rifle salute.

Local Veterans

Louwana, as the widow of a veteran, was presented with the flag from Jim's casket.

With thanks from the United States Government

Family members were given roses to do with what they wished. Most placed them on Jim's casket.

Roses from the family

The pallbearers were Michael Mellum, Sport Bairey, Peter Bairey, Pat Bairey, Chris Bairey, Ivo Bairey, and Tom Weimer.

the Pallbearers

There was lots of hugging and crying as everyone said their final goodbyes.

Jess and Jaime

The Reception

The reception was held at the Morton Senior Center. The two banks in Morton arranged for the space and food.

Quite a crowd

The granddaughters had put together some nice picture boards, which everyone appreciated.

Pictures of Jim and family

Louwana was kind enough to welcome Bette, Jim's ex-wife and mother of his children, to the services. It was really touching that everyone could pull together and get along for the family's sake.

Louwana and Bette

The ladies from the banks put together a wonderful buffet.

The helpful workers

Many family members and friends were there. I tried to get pictures of everyone, but it was an impossible job. Here are some that I managed, however. I didn't catch everyone's name, however, so if you see someone misidentified or not identified at all in a picture, please let me know so I can change it.

Michael, Alicia, and Alan