07/03/1932 – 10/14/2018 Oliver Bailey Hudson III, 86, passed away peacefully on October 14, 2018, with his loving family by his side. Bailey was born on July 3, 1932, in Oakland, California, and moved with his family to Santa Maria in 1946. He graduated from El Camino Junior High and Santa Maria High School in 1951.
He also attended Allan Hancock College. His career began in 1951 with the Davey Tree Surgery Company of California as a tree trimmer involved in utility line clearing and… Read More » commercial tree work. He became crew foreman the following year at the age of 20 and remained with the company until 1960 when he was employed by the City of Santa Maria as the City’s first tree trimmer in the Public Works Department.
Bailey worked his way up in the City organization and retired as Superintendent of Parks and Street Trees in 1995 after 35 years of service. While his passion in life was clearly “trees”, he was especially proud of his contribution in the development and management of the City’s park system and streetscape. Following his retirement from the City of Santa Maria, Bailey owned and operated Bailey O. Hudson Urban Forestry Consulting specializing in tree worker safety training, tree-related consultation and litigation, landscape plancheck and inspection services, and environmental research.
Also, in 2003-04 he served as President of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) that allowed him to travel extensively all over the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, South Africa and Australia as an ambassador spreading the word about the value of trees in our environment. He travelled over 250,000 miles on this mission. Bailey believed in giving back to his community and volunteered countless hours over the years serving on a number of international, national, and statewide professional committees, as well as local community and civic groups including Fifth District Parks Commissioner for the County of Santa Barbara, Friends of Waller Park, All America City Committee, Active Aging Committee, Santa Maria Valley Pioneer Association, Air Pollution Control District Citizen Advisory Committee, Arbor Day Committee, Chamber of Commerce Governmental Affairs and Transportation Committees, Natural History Museum and Santa Maria Valley Beautiful.
Bailey’s interests were very diverse and varied. As he used to say “I love life, I love people and I love to have a good time! ” He especially loved and enjoyed holiday and family activities with his wife, four children, eleven grandchildren, and twenty great-grandchildren.
He loved reading, studying about health and nutrition, travelling, exercising, lifting weights, nature and the outdoors, animals, sports (especially Raiders football), John Wayne, camping, the ocean and beaches, the mountains and forests, good pasta and Merlot wine! Bailey was preceded in death by his parents Marie and Oliver Bailey Hudson II, his parents-in-law Marie and John R. Coelho, his brother Ron, his brother-in-law Ed Teixeira and baby daughter Shelly Marie. Bailey is survived by his wife Celeste of 40 years, his children John of Mt.
Angel, Oregon, Steven (Teresa) of Anderson, California, Danny (Denise) of Santa Maria, California, and Lori(Mario) Serna of Santa Maria, California; his eleven grandchildren Kristina, Greg, Stephanie, Candace, Deirdre (Nathan), Joel (Mariah), Matt (Malathi), Brooke (Ferni), Danielle, Lindsey (Danny) and Austin; his twenty great-grandchildren Zack, Skylar, Shelby, Haden, Pierce, Bailey, Christian, Kaia, Hailee, Gavin, Raine, Alexander, Cain, Dean, Scarlett, Leo, Ethan, Kai, Mia, and Olive; sisters Joann Teixeira and Teri Hudson (Lori); sister-in-law Christine Hudson; and numerous beloved nieces and nephews, cousins, friends and colleagues. Memorial services will be celebrated as follows: Rosary at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 21, 2018, at Dudley-Hoffman Mortuary; Mass at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, October 22, 2018, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church followed by burial at the Santa Maria Cemetery and luncheon at the Veterans’ Memorial Center. Donations may be made in Bailey’s memory to: PLAY, Inc., 615 So McClelland Street, Santa Maria, CA 93454; Friends of Waller Park, Inc., P.O. Box 2835, Santa Maria, CA 93457; and the International Society of Arboriculture TREE Fund, P.O. Box 3129, Champaign, IL 61826.
Please note Bailey’s name on any donation checks.
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