Eulogy for My Dad, Ronald Walter Bayliss
Ronald Walter Bayliss
December 14, 1933 – January 15, 2018
We are here to celebrate the life of Ronald Walter Bayliss, who was hardworking and steadfast in pursuit of his ambitions. Yet he was also kind, honest, and trusting. I am fortunate, blessed, and proud that Ronald Bayliss was my father.
The most memorable and happy times I remember were weekends at Penn State football games. Cool fresh air, the buzz from the crowds, the smell of steak sizzling on the grill, cold beer. And, of course, Penn State Football! Whenever someone got the ball, my father yelled, “Run, you rascal!”
On weekends, when the games were not at Beaver Stadium, my father would be demanding work on a home renovation project. Throughout his adult life, he bought and sold homes, each requiring more significant rehabs and, lucky for us, better neighborhoods. He was a whirlwind of activity, sometimes even working nights during the week. True to fashion, he was ready even after those late nights and left for work early the following day.
He always had a new car for his commute to work. When we lived in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. I remember the neighbor lady asking him, “Ron, don’t you ever keep a car for more than a year?” I guess it helped to have a brother in the business! At 8, I was happy to ride in prominent boys’ toys.
He worked for Bowen Engineering then, and I remember the annual company picnics. There were tons of other kids my age and lots of activities just for us kids. It was a lot of fun. I could tell the boss liked my father; he paid him much attention. Unbeknownst to me, they were already making money from my father’s spray dryer designs.
Some years passed, and we moved to East Whitehouse, NJ, where he started right away, again with the home renovations. He certainly had an eye for what could be done. This house gained a 2nd-floor master bedroom with a walk-in closet and bathroom. What I remember of the commuter cars at that time was just one. A 1960 Mercedes-Benz 190SL. After joining Koch Engineering, he drove it to the train station on his commute to New York City. This sadly is when he started to go on long business trips, but he always brought us great gifts from Germany or China or from whatever faraway place he would disappear to and return from.
Even after we moved to Reaville, he commuted with that hot rod Mercedes-Benz for several years. He finally took it off the road (that’s when I would take it for a spin around the block when no one was home to stop me)! Eventually, he sold it to a collector who wanted it restored.
It was the mid-70s, and Reaville would be the last home we all lived in together. It would be my father’s significant undertaking, eventually working on every room, adding an addition, and mastering some structural challenges. All the while, his career was taking off. Companies took notice when his spray dryer designs made better products.
An Entrepreneur
Despite the traveling, the weeknight renovations, the weekend football games, motorhomes, a wife, and two teenage kids, Ron Bayliss quit his job to start his own business. Even while launching a new business, the renovations continued, including a complete gutting of the old home’s kitchen.
I see a cousin or two here who instrumentally helped my father raise and set giant hand-hewed beams in place to create an exposed beam ceiling in the kitchen. It turned out beautiful.
I was sad when they tore down the old barn. It was my fort! In its place is a new garage and, wait for it, a new swimming pool! Man, we were so lucky in those days. Did you know he invented a drink? Yeah, it sorta became a cult classic there for a while. I’m unsure if he was the only inventor; it’s entirely possible my mom, Ruth, Aunt Helen, and Uncle Bob Ballentine (also here today) were co-inventors. Do you remember? Nary, a summer went by without a pool-side VW! Which later became an RW for Ronald Walter, which stood for Rum and Wink. The VW was vodka and wink. These were good times; to quote my father, everything was excellent!
His company, Bayliss Industries, was profitable, and we all enjoyed it. We were lucky to have enjoyed my father’s successes, especially when he helped me start my career by giving me a job. The skills and, notably, the work ethic I gleaned from those ten years continue to support me today, long after the company was sold.
But wait, there’s more. He was hired as the director of engineering for the WR Grace company. Eventually, they awarded a German company, Trema, a big contract for an environmental control system, with the condition that Trema open an office in the United States to manage the project.
Nepotism shining through my father got me an interview with the German, and upon my hire, Trema North America was born. For the following 2 years, my father was my customer! The project went well, and Trema Germany made a lot of money. They decided to keep the office open and go after more business in the US. My contract job was now a full-time position. To get started, we needed a chemical engineer. The owner asked if I thought my dad would be a sound engineer. Are you kidding? Who else do you know uses a slide rule? If you gave him a marker and a whiteboard, he’d become a scientist scribbling equations and generating results. And these spray dryers? He’s the world’s expert. They hired him!
A match made in heaven. My father could design and sell spray dryers and the needed environmental systems as a packaged set. The company grew and was profitable. After a few years, though, we were at odds with our parent company. Of course, my dad did what any good American businessman would do. He bought them out, and Bayliss Technologies was born. I then had the pleasure to continue working with my dad for nearly another 10 prosperous years. The final year, however, was tumultuous. We had just landed the biggest job of all time. A vast spray dryer and all the needed environmental equipment as part of a 100 million dollar contaminated waste disposal facility. This one job could carry the company for over a year, and it went well.
Then, a small problem arose that became insurmountable. The project was funded by Superfund, a US federal government program to clean up toxic waste. Today, Vice President Al Gore managed it, you know, the guy who invented the Internet.
When Mr Gore got into hot water over alleged misuse of Superfund money, the funding provided to many projects was cut; for us, it crippled and then halted the progress of the now half-finished state-of-the-art facility. Many small to medium-sized businesses lost their business because of this. It would also mark the sad end of Bayliss Technologies when a rouge vendor used the courts to force bankruptcy. But there were silver linings.
My brother, who had only joined the company maybe a year earlier, reorganized the business under a new name with a clean slate. I changed careers and am now a computer systems administrator, and my father retired and eventually met Pat. For my father, a lifetime of hard work had finally paid off. There was plenty of fun along the way, but he needed and deserved a well-earned rest at this point in life.
These past years with Pat were some of my father’s best. Of course, he had a good life with many more ups than downs, but he looked different to me as if he was content. And in the arms of Pat and her extended family, how could he not be?
We will all remember how my father, Ronald Walter Bayliss, lived his life by example and showed us that anything can be achieved through hard work and dedication. He would want us all to carry that lesson in our endeavors.
Ron Bayliss with Grandchildren
Erica Bayliss
Jared Bayliss
Catherine Bayliss
A Life Celebration was held on Saturday, February 3, 2018, at 11:00 AM at Calvary Lutheran Church, 1009 Elizabeth Avenue, Reading, PA 19605 with Rev. Wayne Heintzelman presiding. 100’s of guests attended the beautiful service.
Online condolences may be made at www.whelanschwartz.com
Thank you for visiting!
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