“We lost a good one here, but Heaven gained a beautiful angel.”
Windsor Bailey’s words paint a poignant picture of his late wife, Margaret “Peggie” Bailey, who passed away Christmas Day. They were married 60 years and had five children: two daughters and three boys — the famous Wayne County triplets.
Believed to be the only identical triplets born to a Wayne County family at Wayne Memorial Hospital, the boys: Richard, Wynn and Peter were born July 2, 1949. Local photographer/ store owner Bob Jennings was on hand to take their picture. “It was so rare to have identical triplets; that picture went international,” he said.
Youngest sister, Michele Bailey, 45, says, “My mom was so proud of these kids. I don’t think a day went by in my whole life that she didn’t say how thankful she was that her triplets made it. Because back then, to have triplets and be born in that time when they weren’t prepared for them, they were put in cardboard boxes with Saran Wrap ™ over them and had homemade incubators til Scranton delivered real incubators. The Dimmock building was the hospital then,” she says, referring to when the hospital, then known as Wayne County Memorial, was located at the corner of 9th and Court streets. The pre-mature boys remained hospitalized for six months.
Richard, Michele explains, was named after Dr. Richard Porter of Hawley who delivered them. Wynn served as a shortened version of his dad’s name, Windsor Bailey. And Peter was named after Reverend Peter Cane of St. John the Evangelist Church, who baptized the boys at the hospital.
Family
As she talks about the mom she loved, Suzanne Watt of Florida repeats the very same word her dad used. “She was an angel here on earth. She’s in God’s garden,” she says. It’s good to remember her mom and talk about the triplets, the three older brothers she idolized.
“They took care of me, made sure I wasn’t in any trouble. They were my protectors. They were good guys all my life growing up,” she says. “To me, my brothers never looked identical. Everyone of them had their own special qualities I never had trouble telling them apart.”
Michele agrees her brothers’ personalities were all unique. “Peter was more serious, Richard was the clown, and Wynn’s kind of a mix of all three,” Michele says. “They went to Honesdale Catholic School for 12 years, where St. Vincent’s is, and they tried to trick the Nuns,” she said.
“When I was three, they were leaving for college,” says Michele. All three attended the Franklin School of Science and Arts in Philadelphia, becoming lab and X-ray technicians. Similarities didn’t stop there. “They all married a woman in the medical field,” Michele said, and each had two daughters.
Richard and Peter are still local, working at Marion Community Hospital in the lab. Richard’s worked there 35 years; brother Peter’s been there for 37 years. Wynn, who worked as an X-ray technician at Wayne Memorial Hospital, has recently moved to Florida where he now works for the Department of Agriculture “looking at bugs all day” as he puts it. He checks hot flies and any other bugs coming into the United States that could wreak havoc on orange crops and others.
An identical love
Now 59-years-old, the triplets laugh as they talk (individually) about times gone by. Their voices sound similar on the telephone. The love they have for their mom is identical.
Richard, the first-born triplet, says his mom was a Saint. “It wasn’t easy, especially in those days (raising them),” he says, appreciating what his parents and grandparents did for them. As he talked of his mom and his growing years, he said he loved the fishing trips and family outings. That it was his mom and dad, now 87, who taught him how to fish.
“We had a great life when she was here,” said Peter, calling their family “close-knit.” His mom taught him all about the outdoors, a love of nature and gardening.
“She was always there for us. She was amazing,” said Wynn. Asked what his mom taught him about life, Wynn replied, “A lot of stuff.” But most of all “patience.”
Suzanne, 52, inherited her mom’s love of animals. Where her mom raised cocker spaniels, Suzanne raised boxers. And her garden contains every imaginable flower, something her mom would have appreciated.
“I got mom’s art talent,” says Michele, having inherited her mom’s love of art and ability to draw. “I would like to be just like my mom and be able to just live one day at a time and learn to live by her saying: ‘Let go and let God.’ Because I’m always one to worry, ‘What’s going to happen 10 years from now ...and Mom tried to tell me my whole life, ‘You’ve just got to live one day at a time’ ...She was so good at it. I just wish I could be like her. I’d give anything to live like that woman lived.”
NOTE: The first triplets in memory, born at Wayne Memorial Hospital, were triplet girls: Jean, Jane and Joan Riker, the daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Riker of Narrowsburg, born on February 25, 1932. If you know of any other triplets born in Wayne County, please feel free to contact The Wayne Independent at 253-3055.
Margaret Bailey’s Eulogy, written by daughter Michele Bailey of Honesdale.
God chose Mom to go home on Christmas morning. He knew she was a special angel and thought it was time for her to join her grandson Shawn and her family in Heaven. God knew she was not afraid to die. She had tremendous faith and remained in good spirits until the end. One of her famous sayings was “Let go, Let God” and she lived by that statement until the end of her life on Christmas morning.
Our Mom was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She was a friend, such a great listener and even a therapist when we needed one. We could call her at anytime and she would always be there for us. She was so caring, always putting everyone else first. She never wanted material things. As she would say “that is not what is important in this life.” Mom loved the beauty of nature and received such enjoyment seeing a beautiful sunrise or a new flower bloom in her garden. Her backyard was her own sanctuary with birds, flowers, squirrels, and it certainly meant more to her than anything money could buy.
Mom loved her job at the school. The kids and all the employees meant so much to her. She couldn’t wait to get up to the school each day and serve them their lunch. She always had a story to tell about work, whether it would be a silly one or about a child in need. Mom was always there to help out.
Mom faithfully attended Mass each Sunday and was so devoted to her chapel hour on Friday. She would say, “I’m going to the chapel now to pray for all of us.” We always knew where to find mom on Fridays at 4:00 if we needed her.
Our Mom would always say to us that each day is a new adventure, a place you’ve never been before. When we would call her and be worried about something, she would tell us to take one day at a time and not worry about tomorrow. She would always say things will work out in God’s time, not ours. This is how she lived her own life. I would like to present two poems that Mom faithfully lived her life by.
“Not a moment too soon, not a moment too late, God will answer the prayer that is offered in faith, For if in our hearts we truly believe in the fullness of time we will surely receive. Sometimes He surprises and answers at once, sometimes we must wait for weeks, perhaps months. But God who is faithful hears when we pray and He will answer in His own divine way. Not always the way we think or expect, not always the path we ourselves would select. But God in His wisdom knows what is best, oh blessed assurance, our souls can now rest.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your intelligence rely not. In all your ways, be mindful of Him and He will make straight your paths.”
Both of these poems were kept hanging on the wall in her house and often hand written copies were carried in her coat pockets. If only we can all learn to live this way, what better days we would all have. Mom will be sadly missed by all of us, but we know that she will always give us the strength we need to carry on in this life.
