'Hobbs News-Sun' editor Todd Bailey, a former 'New Mexican' journalist, dies

Nov. 2—Hobbs News-Sun editor and former Santa Fe New Mexican reporter Todd Bailey died Halloween morning after battling cancer for several years.

He was 49.

Born on the Fourth of July, Bailey's younger sister Danielle Bailey McCrary said her brother "came in with fireworks, and left as a ghost."

Bailey's haunts for much of his life were newsrooms, where he was remembered by colleagues and friends as a positive presence — with a magnetic, generous personality.

"He was always ready with a kind word or to lend a hand," New Mexican Deputy Managing Editor Brian Barker wrote in an email. "His enthusiasm, in an industry where cynicism can be rampant, was something that made his colleagues — and The New Mexican — better."

Even as he neared death, Bailey communicated with his friends. In a Facebook post less than 12 hours before he died, he wrote a post entitled "Dear Facebook Nation."

"Mom is on her way from Abq, and my Brother In Law and niece are on their way from DFW. I have loved getting to know you all and being a part of your lives. Thank you for all the love and support you have been giving me throughout the years. Unfortunately, I think God may be calling me home tonight. Please pray for my family during this time that they may be safely getting to me. I am grateful for all of you. Truly."

Bailey grew up in Hobbs and received a bachelor's degree in 1996 from Eastern New Mexico University, where he majored in mass communication and minored in sociology, according to his résumé.

His first job out of college was as a sports writer for the Hobbs News-Sun, McCrary said. He served several other news outlets, including The New Mexican, before returning to his hometown paper, where he continued working until shortly before his death.

Bailey covered sports for The New Mexican from 2002 to 2003, then worked in the paper's circulation and sales departments before rejoining the newsroom as a neighborhood news editor and writer from 2007 to 2008.

"Pecos fans loved him," New Mexican sports writer James Barron said Monday. "They actually had an item at their concession stand named after him. It was a chile cheese hotdog called The Bailey ... that was created just for him."

He also helped guide young journalists in producing The New Mexican's weekly Generation Next teen section.

After leaving Santa Fe to work as a news editor at the Houston Chronicle, Bailey returned to New Mexico to be closer to family. He worked at the Kirtland Air Force Base paper Nucleus — providing support to his family as his mother underwent treatment for cancer — before finding his way back to the News-Sun in 2012.

A year after rejoining the newspaper, he was promoted to editor, publisher Daniel Russell said in a phone interview Monday.

"He was a consummate journalist," Russell said. "And knew this community so well, and he cared about this community, and he cared about what happened in this community."

Bailey had a big personality, Russell said.

"He was one of those classic 'never met a stranger' people who could strike up a conversation with everybody. He loved to laugh. He loved to joke."

Bailey was diagnosed with an aggressive sarcoma in 2020, according a column he wrote about his illness. The disease cost him his left leg — it was amputated just above the knee in the fall of 2020 — before it took his life.

Through the illness, Bailey continued working, including writing a column about his cancer laced with candid facts and his signature brand of self-effacing humor.

"[I said] 'Well Doc, as long as this doesn't mess up my golf swing, I'm all for this,' " he wrote in a column published Nov. 5, 2020.

"You have to understand," he wrote. "We in my family call it the 'Bailey sense of humor.' It's extremely dry and can be dark, but mostly it's often inappropriate. At the moment, it's the only way I can handle the current emotional trauma that I am trying to comprehend."

The day before his death, Bailey was awarded second place for columns in the New Mexico Press Association's annual contest.

Bailey continued sharing the truth about his cancer with loved ones — whom he affectionately called "kiddo" and "knucklehead" — even after discovering the disease had spread to his lungs.

Lisa Estrada, a close friend who worked with Bailey at The New Mexican, said he told her after he learned about the cancer's spread he wanted to spend his final days in hospice in Albuquerque so he could be closer to his mother.

He didn't live long enough to make the move.

Estrada said Bailey's transparency helped his friends deal with his death.

"He shared such intimacy with everybody that loved him, and we got to tell him how important and special he was to us," she said. "We got to do that; he gave us that gift, he gave us that part of him. And that's pretty amazing.

"It was selfless and lovely, and it helped us though this grief process that we got to say goodbye," she said.

Bailey's sister said the family plans to hold memorials for him in Albuquerque and Hobbs but hasn't yet finalized the dates.