St. John man dies in combine accident

A tragic accident in a Thera harvest field took the life of Irvin Bailey, a 69-year-old life-long resident of St. John Saturday Aug. 14.

Mr. Bailey was a member of a crew performing maintenance on a combine on the Mark Richter family harvest operation on Lee Road, six miles east of Endicott.

According to a report from the county Sheriff’s office, he climbed up on the combine to close an engine panel. The driver of the combine, unaware Mr. Bailey had climbed on the combine, drove it forward. The sudden movement caused Mr. Bailey to fall to the ground. He was then run over by a rear tire of the combine.

Emergency crews from the Colfax and Endicott fire departments responded for treatment while awaiting a MedStar helicopter. Bailey was alive when the MedStar helicopter flew him to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. He succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.

Bailey was born and raised in St. John and served 25 years as a trooper with the Washington State Patrol. He drove truck for the U.S. Forest Service after his retirement in 1994.

He and his wife, JoAnne, adopted six children from China and have raised them at their St. John home. He is survived by six children, two siblings and 14 grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held in the St. John High School gymnasium this Friday at 10 a.m. Memorials are suggested to the St. John High School Memorial Scholarship Fund.