In Memory of Shirley G. Bailey

Shirley G. Bailey, age 95, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, passed away on Saturday, August 15, 2026, at Creekside at Three Rivers Assisted Living in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00 p.m., Friday, September 11, 2026, with Visitation held two hours prior from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., in the Christensen-Van Houten Funeral Home in Ida Grove, Iowa. Pastor Billy Bergman will officiate. Committal Services will follow in the Hayes Township Cemetery in Arthur, Iowa.

The Christensen-Van Houten Funeral Home of Ida Grove, Iowa, is in charge of the funeral arrangements.  Condolences may be sent online at www.christensenvanhouten.com

Shirley Georgia Segerstrom was born February 22, 1931, in rural Sac County, IA, near Odebolt and Kiron (Crawford County).  She was the second of four children born to Myron and Hazel Segerstrom.  Myron met Hazel Marshall from North Dakota at Iowa State College in Ames and they married in 1929.  They moved to Ida County in 1935 to the farm at Hayes Center where Myron grew up.  Shirley attended the same one-room country school through 8^th grade that her father went to.  She graduated from Ida Grove High School in 1948.

After two years at Iowa State College in Ames, Shirley transferred to the University of Iowa in Iowa City and graduated with a B.S. degree in Nursing with the class of 1953.  She met her husband here; Robert A. Bailey’s father was from Boston, MA and his mother was from Enid, OK.  His parents met at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Shirley Segerstrom and Robert Bailey married in 1952 in the Arthur Baptist Church near Arthur, IA in rural Ida County.  His career as an insurance actuary involved moves to several states, some two or three times: Iowa, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Michigan.  After about 20 years of retirement in Lansing, MI they moved to Creekside at Three Rivers Assisted Living in Murfreesboro, TN to be closer to family.  Shirley and Robert were married 68½ years when he died in 2020 at age 90.

Shirley and Robert raised six children.  She was a stay-at-home mom and involved in her church, children’s, and community activities.  She was a Sunday School teacher, Cub Scout den mother, and Girls 4-H Club leader.  She volunteered at Sparrow Hospital’s “Thrifty Sparrow” resale shop in Lansing, MI for many years.

Shirley was a member of a branch of the Clan Maclean International Association, and of the Jamestown Society (descendants of America’s first surviving colony).  She has published several family histories, including her father’s Swedish heritage, her mother’s Scottish and English heritage, and her husband’s English heritage.

Preceding her in death are her husband Robert; her parents and his parents; a daughter-in-law Melody (Paul) Bailey; a sister Lois Jean (& Don) Hesse; two brothers Ward (& Bonnie) Segerstrom and Lloyd (Lois) Segerstrom; and a sister-in-law Kitty (Richard) Bailey.

Shirley is survived by her six children: Mary (Mike) Vigilanti of Manchester, MI; John Bailey of Milwaukee, WI; Paul Bailey of Murfreesboro, TN; Steve (Sue) Bailey of Germantown, WI; Lois (Jonathan) Brady of Center Sandwich, NH; and Mark (Angie) Bailey of Smyrna, TN; and by seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.  Also surviving are a brother-in-law Richard (Cindy) Bailey of Bowling Green, KY; sisters-in-law Christine Pearce of Travelers Rest, SC; Margaret (Dennis) Cook of Hollister, MO; and Lois Segerstrom of Murfreesboro, TN.