Chase Bailey was so much more than a young Lee Academy high school football player; he was a stimulating community leader and life-affirming inspiration to us all.
A life tragically cut short by cancer near its beginning, Chase faced his grim prognosis with these spirited words; “cancer can take away all of my physical abilities; it can not touch my mind; it can not touch my heart, and it can not touch my soul.”
A towering baseball and powerful football player, Chase was quick-witted, intelligent, and physically talented. His athletic abilities would have likely continued in college. Those that knew him, though and those that he touched on his journey to the stars remember him for so much more than that.
Chase’s remarkable life and attitude were eulogized by North Carolina State University basketball coach Jim Valvano at the Espy’s on ESPN. Among the remembrances were his keen sense of humor and remarkably positive outlook… while fighting for his life, and at the same time, changing others. He would not let negativity change his world.
Sign location: Corner of E. 3rd St. and Issaquena
Sign Production: digital art by Richard Bolen
Source image: photograph by Chase Bailey family
