Donna Gale Crane-Bailey

Donna Gale Crane-Bailey, 84, of Aptos, California, passed away after a long struggle with cancer on July 20, 2026. She was born on November 14, 1941, in Bend, OR. Her parents, Margret Crane and Steven Crane passed some time ago.

Donna pursued a variety of occupations including insurance underwriter, psychometrician, special program evaluator, writing evaluator, magazine editing, paté business owner and performance-based assessment scoring contractor. The latter business included travel over the entire state of California, a venture made much more convenient and enjoyable through aviation. "The last of life for which the first was made" best describes her love affair with aviation. After a brief flirtation with flying in her early twenties, she finally surrendered to its lure and took to the air in her fifth decade.

Donna was an instrument-rated private pilot who called Watsonville, CA her home base. Flying since 1989, she accumulated more than 2,000 hours of flight time. Upon completing her ratings, she quickly moved up to the 1961 Cessna 210 that she and her husband flew frequently. Not stopping there, she also enjoyed experiencing flight in other aircraft ranging from Piper Cubs to Citations.

She was very active in the local aviation community, developed the first noise abatement brochure for the Watsonville Airport and was a member of the Airport Advisory Committee for the City of Watsonville for many years. In 1999 she was a member of a group of people who took over the Watsonville Air Show and Fly In when it was abandoned by the previous sponsors and remained on its Board of Directors for several years. She was passionately involved with efforts to keep the community aware of the value of the airport and to counteract efforts to close the only remaining airport in Santa Cruz County by speaking at city council meetings, on the air and to various community groups.

Shortly after she obtained her pilot certificate, she joined The Ninety-Nines, an international women pilot's organization founded by Amelia Earhart, and has actively participated in the organization and its mission to promote aviation. She has been Chairman of the Monterey Bay Chapter, Vice-Governor and Governor of the Southwest Section, Chairman of the International Publications Committee and an elected member of the International Nominating Committee.

Through her involvement with the Monterey Bay Chapter, she taught aviation-related classes to homeless children, Girl Scouts, 4-H and at Flying Companion Seminars. She introduced children and adults to the wonders of flying during many chapter events and was able to share her love of flight with handicapped passengers as well.

She had many aviation adventures including flights throughout the western United States and Canada. She flew to Alaska and northern Canada several times via both routes through Canada-the Alaska Highway and the Trench. It was after one of these trips that she and another 99s member applied for and received an Amelia Earhart Research Scholarship Grant to learn more about the history of women bush pilots of Alaska.

Besides flying to Alaska for fun, she enjoyed air racing and participated in the Great Pumpkin Classic and Palms to Pines air races. She loved to take people who have never flown, show them what it's like and create an interest in flying.

The love of aviation was deeply embedded in Donna and she devoted the best years of her life to advancing it. In 2007 she was honored for her contributions to aviation as an inductee to the International Forest of Friendship, a living, growing memorial to the world history of aviation and aerospace.

Donna is survived by her husband, Delbert D. Bailey; her daughter, Megan Bailey-Jacques; stepson, Tristan Bailey; her grandchildren Abigale Jacques, Emma Jacques and Nicholas Jacques; her brothers Steven Crane and Douglas Crane; her nieces Dawn Lilly, Teresa Atkins, Sarah DeDonato; nephews Jason Davidson and Ian Crane; and ten grand nieces and nephews. Her sister Candice Davidson passed some time ago.

A Celebration of Life will be held at the EAA Hanger, 60 Aviation Way, Watsonville, CA95076 on Saturday, August 22 at 1:00pm. Please RSVP, Laura Barnett, bassfly22@yahoo.com.

Published in The Pajaronian · August 3, 2026