IN LOVING MEMORY OF OUR SON
MICHAEL ALLEN BAILEY
APRIL 13, 1976-JUNE 8, 2006
ALLEN WAS BORN ON A SMALL FARM 3 MILES EAST OF GATE OKLAHOMA ON JUNE 13, 1954. HE WAS BORN INTO A FAMILY OF FOUR TO BARNEY BAILEY AND MAXINE MAPHET (BAILEY). IN 1960, ALLEN'S MOTHER, MAXINE, MARRIED RALPH W. HERRON, AND THE FAMILY MOVED TO CIMARRON, KANSAS, WHERE ALLEN ATTENDED SCHOOL, GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL IN 1973.
ALLEN MET HIS WIFE JUDITH K. STEVENS FROM ASHLAND, KANSAS, WHILE ATTENDING 4-H CAMP IN 1968. THEY WERE MARRIED IN 1973, AND DIVORCED IN 2001, AND FROM THEIR MARRIAGE, HAVE 3 CHILDREN. TRAVIS 31, MICHAEL 30, AND SARA 27. AS OF THIS WRITING, THERE ARE THREE GRANDCHILDREN, SAPPHIRA, WHO WAS BORN 2/20/03, AND LITTLE MISS KIERRA, WHO WAS BORN 12/2/05, (THEY ARE CHILDREN OF TRAVIS, AND HIS WIFE LESLIE), AND DANE MICHAEL WILSON, BORN 11/29/07 TO SARA AND HER HUSBAND JUSTIN.
ALLEN ALWAYS HAD A STRONG INTEREST IN THE LIBERAL ARTS, PARTICULARLY MUSIC, AND TAUGHT HIMSELF TO PLAY THE GUITAR AT THE AGE OF 13. BY THE TIME HE WAS 14 ,HE WAS PLAYING DANCES PROFESSIONALLY. HE NOW PLAYS A NUMBER OF INSTRUMENTS, INCLUDING THE GUITAR, BASS GUITAR, PEDAL STEEL GUITAR, FIDDLE, TENOR BANJO, AND PIANO.
ALLEN CURRENTLY PERFORMS TRICK ROPING, MAGIC TRICKS FOR KIDS, AND COWBOY POETRY AND SINGING, HE IS A MUCH SOUGHT-AFTER EMCEE FOR VARIOUS EVENTS SUCH AS MUSIC FESTIVALS AND CIVIC GATHERINGS.
HE IS A MEMBER OF PARTNERS OF THE PRAIRIE; A GROUP OF COWBOYS WHO TOUR THE COUNTRY AND PERFORM COWBOY POETRY, STORIES, AND LORE TO DELIGHTED AUDIENCES OVER A WIDE AREA. RECENTLY, THEY PERFORMED IN ILLESHIEM, GERMANY!
AS DODGE CITY MARSHAL, HE TREATS HIS APPOINTMENT SERIOUSLY AND WITH MUCH HONOR AND DIGNITY.