Hi, my name is Grace McCreary Bagley, and I’m creating this GoFundMe on behalf of my family to support my dad during this difficult time.

Several months ago, my dad began experiencing numbness on the right side of his face. Despite seeing multiple doctors, we had no answers. Then came balance issues that affected his driving and stability. Out of caution, he went to the emergency room—and that decision changed everything.

Doctors discovered a large mass in his brain stem. He spent over a month in the hospital undergoing extensive testing, including a brain biopsy that led to complications: a brain bleed and swelling that caused immense pain and other difficult symptoms.

The diagnosis was devastating—an aggressive, inoperable type of cancer called an Astrocytoma.

After a long stay in the NCCU, he was finally able to come home for a short break before

beginning treatment. He’s now undergoing physical and occupational therapy at Johns Hopkins to regain his ability to walk and see clearly, while also enduring intensive outpatient radiation and chemotherapy. The journey has been unimaginably difficult, but he continues to fight with grace and determination. Unfortunately, this disease is incurable and will, eventually, take his life.

If you know my dad, you know he wears MANY hats. To name a few, he’s a devoted husband and father who raised six children with love, patience, and unwavering guidance, a passionate writer and activist, a gifted photographer and musician, and a hardworking truck driver who has spent countless hours on the road to provide for his family. In his younger years, he served as an Air Force mechanic and as a missionary in Guatemala and Peru, where he helped build airstrips for local communities.

One of the most inspiring things about my dad is his unwavering commitment to caring for others. Throughout the dozens of car crashes he’s come across during his career, there has never been a moment when he didn’t step in to help—whether that meant comforting a shaken driver, directing traffic to keep others safe, or even rescuing someone from a deadly situation. I’ll never forget the story of my father pulling a driver from a sinking car. 

Just a minute or two after it happened, he arrived at the scene of the crash to see a car had veered into a body of water. While others stood frozen in shock, he wasted no time in saving the driver from drowning. He is someone who never hesitates to run toward danger, if it means protecting others.

Through his words, his work, his music, and his quiet acts of service, my dad is a living example of what it truly means to lead with your heart.

Equally inspiring is his love and dedication to my mom. They’ve been together for 29 years and have built a marriage grounded in love, laughter, and unshakable commitment. Through every season of life, the joys and heartbreaks, they’ve stood side by side, a true team. Their relationship has been a beautiful example of what it means to love selflessly and unconditionally.

After the devastating and unexpected loss of my brother, Danny, nearly eight years ago, my parents’ kept our family together, when our lives felt shattered. Through every hardship, my father has remained a kind, reliable, generous, and funny person who brightens the lives of everyone who knows him. He truly deserves the world.

Now, as he faces this diagnosis, it’s our turn to give him help. Because he can no longer drive, our family has lost an important source of income, and every contribution will help to provide stability during this difficult time.

His greatest wish is to pay off the house he bought with my mom a few years ago, so that my mom and sisters can live without the financial burden of a mortgage once he’s gone. Previously we had rented for about 15 years. We’re asking for your help to make his wish come true.

Any contribution, no matter the size, will help ease the weight this cancer has and will place on our family in the coming months and years. I want to honor the love and legacy of my dad who means the world to me and so many. 

If you are unable to donate, please consider sharing this campaign or keeping our family in your thoughts. Thank you for your support, your kindness, and your prayers.