Alexis “Lex” Irénée du Pont Bayard Jr.
Alexis Irénée du Pont Bayard Jr., 73 years old, of Wilmington,
Delaware, passed away Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018, after complications from surgery
– he didn’t go down without a fight.
Born on May 2, 1945, in Toledo, Ohio, the oldest son of Alexis
Irénée du Pont Bayard and Jane Brady Bayard (née Hildreth). He graduated from
The Searing School and attended the University of Delaware, where he studied
history.
Lex, as he was known, spent the majority of his life in and around
Delaware. With a lifelong love of the water and outdoors, he organized
small-sailboat regattas along Indian Beach in his youth, relished the time he
was able to waterski down Rehoboth Avenue behind a Jeep during a flood and
remembered fondly rafting down the Brandywine, sometimes with a piano in his
raft. He also had a love for aviation and travel, frequently hopping down to
the Bahamas or Caymans on his small plane.
Fun and love for family were truly the theme of Lex’s life. He was
an avid sportsman with natural athletic abilities, an incredible poker player,
and one of the few truly ambidextrous people who could seamlessly transition
handwriting or shooting a gun with either hand. He was a voracious reader of
newspapers, even a rag like The News Journal, and was an enthusiast of military
history, particularly the Civil War. He possessed a keen interest in current
events and a sincere fondness for conversation and the world of ideas.
Although not of Italian ancestry, Lex was an honorary member of
the Prince of Piedmont and St. Anthony’s. He was equally proud of his
membership in The Man Will Never Fly Society, and a fervent support of the NRA
and Ducks Unlimited.
His sense of humor was unsurpassed. He loved using wordplay — and
the numerous colloquialisms that only those close to him could decipher — jokes
and, more than anything, pranks — he thoroughly enjoyed embarrassing his
children. In order to share his humor with the masses, Lex participated in the
publication of a politically incorrect monthly newspaper, The Delmarva Beach
Bull, for over a decade.
That was core of who Lex was: a kid at heart. While he always
loved a good time, he cherished the moments he had with family and friends. To
them, he was generous to a fault, incredibly reliable and the first person to
call in a crisis. He will be remembered for his integrity, kindness, genuine
zest for life and, yes, his dirty jokes.
Lex is survived by his wife of 40 years, Katie; son Alexis “Lex”
III of Lewes; daughter Mary “Liz” and her husband Apor of Newark; daughter
Amanda, her husband Daniel and their son Liam Alexis of Sacramento, Calif.; son
Andrew of Wilmington; brothers Eugene, Richard, John, William; and sister Jane.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 15,
2018, at Chandler Funeral Home 2506 Concord Pike in Wilmington, DE. Reception
to follow.
In lieu of flowers, please make contributions to C.E.R.T.S., Inc.
Adult Action Center, 1501 Casho Mill Rd., Suite 1, Newark, DE 19711.
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