'Super kind, generous and gracious': Topekan Judy Bailey remembered by adventure leader

A super kind, generous and gracious woman.

That's how local business owner Denise Selbee-Koch describes Topekan Judy Bailey, who died May 19 in Arkansas.

"Judy was an experienced kayaker and a strong paddler, and she paddled many, many times in a variety of places," Selbee-Koch said. "We'll really miss her. She was awesome, super great."

Authorities were notified about 5 p.m. May 19 of a possible drowning in the upper district of the Buffalo National River near Carver, Arkansas. Bailey, 69, was floating in a one-person kayak that overturned after striking a tree in the river channel.

Selbee-Koch is the co-owner of Compass Point and Dirty Girl Adventures, a local group that offers introductory classes on adventure gear and techniques, international travel, Midwestern adventures, local hiking, kayaking and camping adventures and more, its website said.

Bailey was a member of Dirty Girl adventure for nearly nine years, but she was on a private trip last weekend and not a Dirty Girl excursion, Selbee-Koch said.

'Enjoying life doing something that she loved'

Bystanders weren't able to rescue Bailey after her boat overturned, according to Newton County, Arkansas, Sheriff Glenn Wheeler. After turning over in the water, Bailey was pulled under a submerged tree. She wasn't wearing a personal flotation device at the time of the accident. The river level was "low" at the time of the incident, according to USGS.

"While it is an unimaginable loss, we take a little comfort knowing that she was enjoying life doing something that she loved," her husband, Stuart Bailey, wrote Thursday on Facebook. "She will be sorely missed and will remain forever in our hearts."

Selbee-Koch said Bailey's accident was horrible and noted the Buffalo River is very different than the Kansas River.

According to a Facebook post from Buffalo National River, which is overseen by the National Parks Department, the Newton County Sheriff's Office and the Hasty Volunteer Fire Department responded to the kayaking accident.

Celebration of life for Judy Bailey will be June 8

Judy Bailey's celebration of life will be 2 p.m., June 8, at the Kevin Brennan Family Funeral Home, 2801 S.W. Urish Road.

Memorial contributions may be made to Pawsitively Jefferson County or Topeka Community Cat Fix in care of the funeral home, her obituary said.

Bailey earned college degrees in psychology and history and had an early career working for Southwestern Bell. She married her husband in 1996, the obituary said. She was the mother to daughter Brooke Bailey.

Keishera Lately is the business reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. She can be reached at klately@cjonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @Lately_KT.

Tony Maaden at the Springfield (Missouri) News-Leader contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka woman drowns after kayak turns over on Bufflao National River