Lillian (Raasch) Bailey, 79, of Bowler, passed away Jan. 16, 2018. Lillian was born Sept. 25, 1938, to the late Wally and Margaret (Davids) Raasch. Lillian was a 1956 graduate of Bowler High School.
When she was 7 years old, her grandma, Mamases Davids, taught her how to play the piano with the intent of grooming a successor after she retired from being the church organist. Those lessons did not go to waste, as Lillian was the organist at the three churches she was a member of during her time spent in California.
Lillian had alternate plans, wanting to follow the sun and see the different places where it was setting every night. After working a few years in Wisconsin, first at Lakeside Laboratories in Milwaukee, then the FWD in Clintonville, she saved enough money to buy a car and had a small nest egg. One cold and snowy day in March, she started her dream. She was excited and a bit scared at the same time, but couldn’t back out. Her mother and little sister were distraught, so Lillian asked her mother to go with her as far as Aunt Nim’s, who lived in Enid, Oklahoma. She never saw her mom pack so fast.
After leaving Oklahoma and on her own, things were going fine, then the landscape started changing. The trees were fewer and further between. The big rock formations were looming up everywhere and it seemed like another planet. It sure wasn’t Shawano County. There was no more driving west after reaching Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean. Lillian landed a job her first day in downtown Los Angeles at GE Supply as a key punch operator. Not being satisfied with her first job, she took a civil service exam and was hired at Edwards Air Force Base. Later, she went to work at the 20 Mule Team US Borax Plant in the Mojave Desert for 12 years. During this time, Lillian married Patrick Bailey on May 31, 1974. They settled in Sacramento, California, where she worked for EXLOG. When the company moved to Houston, Texas, Lillian retired.
Throughout her life, Lillian fulfilled her dreams, visiting Tahiti and the surrounding Society Island, Hong Kong, Acapulco, Bahamas, Hawaii, Alaska, the western Canadian Provinces, Baja California (a number of times) and every state west of the Mississippi River, as well as a few eastern states. In 1992, Lillian and Pat started building their retirement home on the northern coast of California in a small town called Gualala. They moved into their new home in 2000. In 2011, due to illness, they moved to a new home near Bowler to be closer to family and back where Lillian started.
Lillian is survived by her loving husband of 43 years, Patrick; her brother, David (Carole) Raasch, of De Pere; and sister, Karolyn Raasch, of Bowler. She is further survived by Brooke Bailey (Cliff) Serres, of Salem, Oregon, Raymond (Shelly) Bailey, of Eagle River, Alaska, Bill (Jeanie) Bailey, of Moses Lake, Washington, sister-in-law Mary Raasch, of Gresham, and a host of friends and relatives.
She will be reunited with her parents; little brothers, Buddy and Keith Raasch; niece, Lisa Raasch; sister-in-law, Kathy Raasch; and her special aunt, Dorothy Davids.
A memorial celebration of Lillian’s life is being planned for spring. Swedberg Funeral Home is assisting the family with the arrangements.