Janet E. Bailey of Wakefield, formerly of Melrose, died peacefully on Saturday, October 17, 2026 at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital. She was 76.
She was born in Winchester on January 17, 1950, the daughter of Frederick K. “Ken” Bailey and Virginia F. (Moholland) Bailey, grew up on Ashland Street in Melrose and graduated from Melrose High School in 1968. As a teenager she was president of the youth group and the pianist at the Advent Christian Church, worked summers in the kitchen at the Alton Bay, N.H. campground, where she and her mother later shared a cottage, and led the Tri-Hi-Y at the Melrose YMCA. She earned an associate degree in business at Northeastern and a pension consulting certificate at Bentley, and spent more than 25 years in pension administration at Keystone Custodians and New England Pension Plans. She retired to care for her mother and then kept caring for others as a certified nursing assistant. At Faith Evangelical Church in Melrose she organized events; outside it she worked local campaigns, followed Boston sports, went to plays, took scenic drives, traced the family tree and collected furniture and old videos from the 1950s and 1960s.
She leaves her brothers, Craig K. Bailey and his wife Carol of Springfield, Ill., and Wayne F. Bailey of Lowell, and several nieces and nephews.
Visiting hours are Friday, October 23 from noon to 1 p.m. at the Robinson Funeral Home, 809 Main Street, Melrose, followed by a funeral service at 1 and burial at Oak Grove Cemetery, Medford.
Compiled from information published by Robinson Funeral Home. Photograph courtesy of the family via Robinson Funeral Home. This is our own summary, not the family’s obituary; read the full obituary and leave a condolence at the funeral home’s page on Legacy.com. Corrections: we will fix any error promptly.
