Ty Bailey, a pioneering Philadelphia restauranteur who sold his business to take up coaching swimming full time, as died. He was 69 years old.
Bailey is recognized to most Philadelphians as the founder of the Knave of Hearts restaurant, which he opened in 1975. He was on the front end of what the Philadelphia Inquirer refers to as the city’s “restaurant renaissance” of the mid-1970s.
An iconic restaurant, Bailey closed the restaurant in 2003 and became a swim coach.
In 2017, he suffered an aortic aneurysm and aoritc dissection, which required him to undergo surgery. Prior to that, Bailey was an avid athlete who completed more than 40 marathons, with a personal best under 3 hours. He also competed at 6 Ironman World Championship triathlons in Hawaii.
In his ‘second career,’ he coached for the Phoenixville YMCA, Phoenixville High School, Episcopal Academy Aquatic Club, and most recently the Upper Main Line YMCA until his health began to deteriorate in November 2020.
With the UMLY Swim Team, Bailey worked primarily with the age group swimmers.