Retired Lt. Col. `Bill' Hailey; War Hero, Friend To Children

Gruff and gentle, that's how friends and family described retired Lt. Col. Millie Zo "Bill" Hailey.

Bellevue neighbors and children simply called Col. Hailey, who died last month in Seattle, the "Colonel." He was 72.

A World War II hero and a career military man, he was quick with a joke and could be talked into telling stories about his days in the Air Force.

Even when he was ill and plagued by arthritis in his later years, he refused to let the illness hamper him, said his daughter Terry M. Hailey. He suffered from arthritis for 33 years.

When arthritis twisted his legs, he walked with a cane and then a walker. When those weren't enough, he drove his 1989 Mercury Sable around the neighborhood, greeting friends. He enlisted neighborhood children to wash the Mercury, which he always kept in spit-shine shape.

Born in Glendale, Calif., Col. Hailey grew up modestly with his brother and two sisters. He never forgot his roots.

One day during a shopping excursion with his daughter, he remembered he had to pick up goods for the local food bank.

Instead of picking up the cheap canned goods, he went straight for the expensive foods.

"He made sure we picked up food people wanted but couldn't afford," Terry Hailey said. "He remembered how bad it got for him when he and his family were poor.

"I think he spent most of his shopping money that day on the food bank."

He enlisted in the Air Force in 1942, eager to fight in World War II. He graduated form pilot school in 1943 and was promptly trained in the B-17 bomber before he was sent abroad. Stationed in England during the war, Col. Hailey flew 31 bomber missions.

Later during the onset of the Cold War, he helped deliver food, coal and blankets in the Berlin Airlift.

Col. Hailey, however, was a modest man, said his Air Force buddy, Pete Pietscher. He only told stories about himself when he was nudged.

And he rarely talked about the medals, including a Distinguished Flying Cross he received. He was also a test pilot for Air Force One, the president's plane.

"He was not a bragging kind of guy," Pietscher said.

"During the airlift, he hauled food to the people who had no food. It took skills to maneuver a plane to Berlin at the time. There was bad weather, no fancy equipment. It required a high level of skills. That was Bill," Pietscher said.

After the war, Col. Hailey trained pilots to fly B-47 jet bombers in Kansas. There he met Pietscher and developed a long friendship. During the stint, his friends would call him "Mother Hailey," because he was so meticulous about his job.

"He always turned in a good finished product," Pietscher said. "He was picky, and he would needle somebody until they got it right. He was loyal and sincere and honest. But sometimes he was so thorough, he was a pain in the butt."

In his later years, Col. Hailey took his pilot-training expertise to the roads, where he taught several of his neighbor's children how to drive.

There he was just as meticulous. Nobody drove with the Colonel unless he got their complete attention, his daughter said. And he got it.

But he commanded not only the children's respect, he got their friendship as well. During his memorial April 29, two days after his death, several of his young friends - some of them who grew up under his watchful eyes - shared stories about him.

They said they were able to talk to the Colonel and he would listen like no one else could. One teenager described Col. Hailey as his "third grandfather."

Col. Hailey is survived by his daughter, Terry, of Auburn; two granddaughters, Stacy Haugen and Carey Colasurdo; a brother, Dean Hailey, and two sisters, Lorine Redman and Florine Remmen, of Glendale, and his former wife, Alberta Hailey of Auburn.