Just a short time ago on June 26th, 2023 we published an article about Bailey Squier making a surprise visit to the DMSC Standards Committee meeting in Ft. Worth, Texas. Now, we must report that sadly, Bailey passed away, June 27, 2023.
Bailey is acknowledged as being the key architect of the formation of DMSC, in 2005. His influence goes way back into the 1980’s with his leadership of the DMIS metrology standard and the CAM-I organization. Bailey’s last hours were peaceful and he was surrounded by loving caregivers and friends.
Curtis Brown, DMSC President (L) and Bailey Squier
Ray and Tanya Admire knew Bailey better than anyone else, providing care and comfort during his last months. They provided this perspective of Bailey’s life story:
Bailey Herndon Squier passed away on Tuesday, June 27, in Arlington, TX.
Bailey was born September 30, 1935, in Wichita Falls, Texas. He graduated as Valedictorian from North Side High School in Ft Worth. Bailey received acceptance letters from many universities including MIT. MIT offered him a scholarship for tuition and books, but he would have to pay for all of his living expenses. He wanted to attend MIT but knew that in order to get the degrees in Mathematics and Nuclear Physics that he wanted, working and going to school would not be possible. However, if he went to a local university he could live at home and his mother would feed him. So, he chose to stay close to home and graduated from Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth, Texas. Bailey stayed at TCU working on his master’s degree when representatives from Livermore Radiation Labs, located in Livermore, CA, visited TCU to interview physicists for employment at the labs. He interviewed and within a few days was hired as a Jr Research Physicist. Bailey worked at Livermore Labs from 1959 to 1965 designing and testing various “mock-up” weapon components. It was during his stint at Livermore Labs he co-authored and developed an equation published in a technical paper; “The Equation of State of PBX 9404 and LX04-01” under the direction of Dr. Edward Teller, who is known colloquially as “the father of the hydrogen bomb”.
Bailey Squire and Tanya Admire
The job was very stressful, so he left the labs in 1965 and decided to try something new. A friend of Bailey’s approached him and suggested they open a hair salon because so much money was being made in that trade. Becoming a hairdresser took more hours and training than he had to do to become a nuclear physicist and it paid considerably more. Since Bailey’s prior job was working with spheres and the human head is a sphere, he was very good at cutting hair. Women and men came from all over California to have him cut their hair. After a few years he sold his salon and moved back to Texas.
Bailey found employment with the CAM-I organization and spent close to 40 years managing the manufacturing and quality standards. His technical writing was well respected and his relationship with ANSI and ISO organizations were very valued. In February 2005, CAM-I and Bailey H. Squier and Associates agreed upon the DMIS standard transferring ownership to Bailey’s company. Bailey approached the DSC (DMIS Standards Committee) and helped create the DMSC (Dimensional Metrology Standards Consortium). Bailey’s 40 years at CAM-I helped him with the ANSI and ISO wisdom that made him such a valuable asset to the consortium. He helped to obtain copyrights, intellectual properties agreements, managed the ANSI and ISO audits and so many other duties too long to list.
Bailey managed the DMSC as the Executive Director from 2005 – 2019, during that time the organization released multiple DMIS progressions, developed and released the QIF (Quality Information Framework) standard.
When his eyesight and health began to decline, he relinquished his duties and was named Executive Director Emeritus. He was diagnosed with cancer in March 2023, but his humor and wisdom were still shining until the very end. On June 20, 2023, Bailey Squier blessed the DMSC with his presence one last time as we were able to recognize his many years of work at the DMSC Standards Committee meeting in Fort Worth.
He was 87 years young.
The DMSC Board of Directors is currently considering ways to honor Bailey’s long-term leadership and contribution to the DMSC organization.
