Obituary of Stephen D Bayless

Bayless, Stephen D. “Mr. B.”, 71, of Pinellas Park passed away on Monday, June 24, 2019. Raised in St. Petersburg and graduated from Northeast High School and Florida State University, he is preceded in death by his parents, Ralph and Helen Bayless. He is survived by his brother, Randy (Linda) Bayless, his nephew, Brandon Bayless, and cousins Betty (Jim) Hicks and Ann (Alan) Baker. As a music teacher at 16th St Jr High and then Gibbs High School for over 35 years, Steve touched the lives of thousands of students. He taught his students to love and appreciate music and theater, with many of them going on to have their own professional music and theater careers. But more importantly, he taught them the values of hard work, confidence, respect, diversity and caring for others. Steve also directed church choirs at Northeast Presbyterian and Gulfport United Methodist. He served as the President of the Pinellas County Music Educator Association, as a board member of the Florida Theatre Conference and Southeastern Theatre Conference, and most recently as the Executive Director of the Florida Theatre Conference. His dedication to teaching, students, music and theater earned Steve many awards and much recognition, including Pinellas County Teacher of the Year 1995, Florida Teacher of the Year Finalist 1995, Pinellas County Music Teacher of the Year, SETC Suzanne M. Davis Memorial Award, and featured in several St Petersburg Times articles.  In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Steve Bayless Musical Theatre Scholarship Fund @ 5650 Park Blvd N #7, Pinellas Park, FL 33781, or by calling Kris 941-584-0639. Steve’s memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 13, 2019 at 2pm at First Baptist Church of St. Pete. Visit the online guestbook at www.AndersonMcQueen.com