Arthur Franklin "Art" Baisley, devoted husband of Marlene Baisley, passed on to the next world on March 2nd, 2017. Arthur was the youngest of three children. He is survived by his middle brother Thomas "Tom" Baisley. His oldest brother Cordell passed away in 2003. Arthur lived in Boys Town Nebraska in his youth. He was in the Boys Town Choir, singing in Carnegie Hall and on the Ed Sullivan Show on the same day as Elvis performed. He knew Father Flanagan and even cleaned his office. This job was only the beginning of a variety of interesting vocational opportunities for Arthur. He delivered bread and milk, worked in the aircraft industry and even worked in the movie industry. But he always wanted to be his own boss. He started several businesses over his life mostly in the aircraft industry where he sold hardware to large aircraft companies.
After retiring from the many businesses he started, Arthur decided that he liked driving and maybe he would try out cross country truck driving. After driving for a few years, he decided to take coursework in environmental management at Stanford University. This led to a position in Ohio doing nuclear remediation where he developed procedures for a large environmental clean-up project.
But truth be told, Arthur always liked working for himself the best. Once again he started dreaming of businesses he wanted to start. In the mid 90's he bought a hot dog cart and started selling hot dogs under the name of Kernel Franks, the catchy name being a nod to his middle name Franklin. Soon the hot dog business got "cold" and he sold it, but he wasn't through yet. While passing out hot dogs to customers at various events he started dreaming of being on the road again. He bought a limousine which was the beginning of Arthur's Airport Transportation. Over several years Arthur made a lot of trips and met a lot of interesting people while driving up and down the freeway from Grass Valley to the Sacramento or San Francisco airport. One of his favorite regular customers was the mother of Randy Johnson, the ace fireball pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks major league baseball team.
In 1999 A1thur was diagnosed with lymphoma. As a patient at the Cancer Center in Grass Valley, California he explored many options for treatment, deciding on traditional chemotherapy. While receiving chemotherapy treatments, he continued to drive his limousine, transporting people to the airport and any other place they wanted to go. Arthur refused to let the cancer take him down. He rose up to walk away from death's door so many times that the medical staff at the Cancer Center started calling him Lazarus!
Arthur met Marlene in 2004. They had much in common from their childhood experiences to their love for travel and being on the road. After a short courtship they married. The local Grass Valley, California doctors may have given up on him, but Arthur never gave up. Marlene accompanied Arthur to New York City, where they lived for nine months in their recreational vehicle. They traveled into the city by train, bus and subway for Arthur's daily treatments at Sloan Kettering Hospital, temporarily slaying the dragon. Keeping the cancer at bay, they spent the next 13 years traveling around the country in their RV, visiting all the places they had both dreamed of seeing all of their lives. Arthur's stubborn nature and Marlene's devotion to him kept new illnesses at bay while they continued to travel until 2016. In November most of the family came together to celebrate Thanksgiving. Arthur and Marlene took a final trip to California to spend the Christmas with his daughter, son in law, three of his grandchildren and four of his great grandchildren.
Aside from his loving wife Marlene Baisley and brother Torn Baisley, who has five children, Arthur is survived by six children, Teresa "Teri" Baisley Webb, Constance "Connie" Marie Baisley Lamberto, Denise Louise Baisley, Deanna Jean Martinez-Hay, Glen Michael Baisley and Katherine "Becky" McGaffin Mouahidi. His surviving grandchildren are Stephanie Teresa Smith, Justin Albert Smith, Walter Monroe "Trey" Webb III, Lalia Spring Baisley, Jodie Lynn Le Crone, Anthony George Martinez, and Michelle Herring. His granddaughter Celeste Martinez passed away in 2012 and is with the Angels. Arthur had five great grandchildren, Geoffrey Rotundo, Dylan Bickler, Wyatt Bickler, Roma Smith, and Sela Smith. (Obituary courtesy of program for Art's memorial service/life celebration)
A memorial service was held on March 26, 2017 in Tucson, Arizona where his widow Marlene, his children and grandchildren, family and friends gathered to toast Art and celebrate his life. His brother Tom, '51, Phil Dauterive, D'70, Region 7 BTNAA Board Member and John Mollison, '64, Senior Advisor for Alumni Matters attended representatiing his Boys Town family and his God given family.
