Donald Bailey

Donald J. Bailey, age 80 of Sauk Centre, died Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at the Douglas County Hospital in Alexandria, Minnesota.

Funeral Services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, January 17 at Zion Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre. Pastor Marty Porter will officiate with interment following in Greenwood Cemetery. Military honors will be provided by the Sauk Centre United Veterans Honor Guard.

Friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Sauk Centre and one hour prior to the service Saturday at the church. The United Veterans Prayer Service will be held at 7 p.m. Friday evening at the funeral home.

Donald John Bailey was born October 11, 1928 on the family farm in West Union Township, Todd County, Minnesota to John and Dorothea (Volkmann) Bailey. He was baptized on November 25, 1928 and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre on June 27, 1943. He attended West Union Grade School and the West Central School of Agriculture in Morris, Minnesota. Donald was united in marriage to Arlene Weiner on November 12, 1953 at Zion Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre. He served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955. Donald was a life-long crop and livestock farmer in Ashley Township, Stearns County, Minnesota. Donald was a member of the Sauk Centre Farmers Co-op Elevator Board, Sauk Centre Board of Education, Stiles Country School Board, Zion Lutheran Church Council and dartball league, Centre Squares dance club, West Union baseball team, American Legion Post 67 and the Paul F. Donart VFW Post 2853. He enjoyed local politics, competitive plowing, loon counting, bee keeping, golf, family genealogy and visits from his grandchildren. He will long be remembered as a man of honesty, humor, and principle, and instilled in his children and grandchildren, the value of hard work and a good education.

He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Arlene; children, Jeanne Massoletti, Jeffrey (Brenda) Bailey, Suzanne (Stanley) Shefveland, Lisa (Peter) Laing, Julie (Allen) Monroe, and Gwen (Wayne Bitz) Bailey; grandchildren, Danielle (Tim) Kelm, Jeremy Smelter, Jared Bailey, Justine Bailey, Katie Monroe, Brenna Monroe, Noah Bitz, Joshua Bitz, and Savannah Studniski; great-granddaughter, Kylie Kelm; brothers, Arthur (Martha) Bailey, James (Gloria) Bailey, and David (Jane) Bailey; and sisters, Lois (Paul) Pischke and Barbara (Haven) Wiegers.

Donald was preceded in death by his parents, John and Dorothea Bailey; and grandchildren, Laura Monroe and Nathanael Laing.

Serving as casket bearers will be Jared Bailey, Jeremy Smelter, Glen Weiner, James Bailey Jr., Melvin Walter, and Richard Carpenter. Honorary bearers will be Stanley Shefveland, Allen Monroe, Peter Laing, Greg Bailey, Lyle Uhlenkamp, Lewis Calkins, and Greg Marthaler.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Zion Lutheran Church Memorial Fund in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.