Wilma Juanita Bailey

Wilma Juanita Bailey, age 80, of Savanna, Illinois, died Monday, November 24, 2008 at Pleasant View Nursing Home in Morrison, Illinois. Funeral Services will be held 10:00 a.m. Monday, December 1, 2008 at Calvary Baptist Church, Savanna, with Pastor Robert Bridges officiating. Burial will be in Savanna Township Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Sunday, November 30, 2008 at Law-Jones Funeral Home, Savanna. A memorial fund has been established in Wilma’s memory.

Wilma was born November 25, 1927 at Ellsinore, Missouri the daughter of George and Myrtle (Wing) Secrease. She graduated from Ellsinore High School in 1945. Wilma married Clyde Bailey on March 23, 1946. Clyde passed away May 25, 2005. They moved to Illinois in September 1947. She worked at the Savanna Army Depot different times for short periods. Wilma worked at Lord Baltimore Press in Clinton, Iowa for 12 years and Law’s Motel in Savanna before she retired. She then worked part time at Remember When Floral and Gift Shop in Savanna.

Wilma was a member of Calvary Baptist Church in Savanna for many years, where she was a Sunday School Teacher. She loved collecting and decorating with chickens and enjoyed receiving them as gifts from family and friends. She loved tending to her flowers in her yard in the summertime and walking many miles around town and hiking all the trails in the Palisades Park with her husband. Most of all she loved her daughter and granddaughter and others who called her grandma.

Wilma is survived by one daughter, Deborah Rathje of Savanna; grandchildren, Jennifer (Seth) Green of Dixon, Illinois, Erica (Shawn) Rathje of Phoenix, Arizona, and Kateri Nesbitt of Savanna; three great grandchildren, Kole, Keegan, and Lakin; and special grandchildren, Joe, Josh, and James; sister Lois Munger of Topeka, Kansas; and many nieces and nephews.

Wilma is preceded in death by her parents and husband Clyde; and four sisters, Velma, Eulah, Gladys, and Iva.