Hettie Ann Bailey was a preacher’s daughter, born to Eva Gray Duncan and William Arlester Duncan in Russellville, Kentucky on September 30, 1937. She attended Knob City High School in Russellville and was graduated in 1956. She married Delmus Bailey on December 9, 1956, and for the next twenty years embarked on a whirlwind adventure that included living in Ft. Huachuca, Arizona; Ft. Lewis, Washington; Berlin, Germany; Sacramento, California; Baumholder, Germany; Ft. Knox, Kentucky and finally, the Kansas City, Missouri metropolitan area.