Obituary: John LeRoy Bailey

MADISON - John LeRoy Bailey, age 78, passed away peacefully on Friday, Nov. 7, 2003, surrounded by his loving family at the Don and Marilyn Anderson HospiceCare Center. John was born on May 1, 1925, in Madison, to John E. and Mabel (Thorstad) Bailey. John was a lifelong member of Bethel Lutheran Church where he served as an usher for 30 years. He attended school in Madison at Brayton and Doty schools. He graduated from Central High School. He was united in marriage to Sylvia Gunderson on May 22, 1948, at Bethel Lutheran Church. John enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and was stationed in the South Pacific. For more than 30 years he worked in the automotive industry, retiring from Don Miller in 1990, where he made many lifetime friends. After retirement, John and Sylvia moved to Montello, and volunteered with the Marquette Co. Food Banks and Marquette Co. Senior Citizens, installing messenger units. They then returned to Madison to be closer to family, which was the center of their life. John is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Sylvia; sons, John D. (Julie) of Madison, and Jerry (Ann) of Cross Plains; daughters, Judy (Jim) Vallier of New Mexico, and Karen Jacob of Madison; grandchildren, John T., Matthew, Jeffrey, and Gregory Bailey, Robyn and Katherine Vallier, and Katherine, Allison and Scott Jacob; his sisters, Alice (Earl) Oelhafen of Rockford, Ill., and Dorothy Cole of Monona; and brother-in-law, David Gunderson of Land O, Lakes, Wis. John was preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Janet Huff, and Celoris Grady; mother- and father-in-law, Karen and Henry Gunderson; and sister-in-law, Dorothy Gunderson. Services will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2003, at the GUNDERSON EAST FUNERAL HOME, 5203 Monona Drive at 11 a.m. with the Rev. Curtis Everson presiding. Entombment will follow at Highland Memory Gardens. Visitation will be held from 9 a.m. until the time of the service at the funeral home., The Bailey family would like to thank Kelly Fisher, RN, and the entire HospiceCare staff for their wonderful care and support. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the Don and Marilyn Anderson HospiceCare Center, 5395 E. Cheryl Parkway, Fitchburg, WI 53711. Gunderson East Funeral Home 5203 Monona Drive (608) 221-5420

Originally published in the Wisconsin State Journal on November 9, 2003