Sept. 6, 1924 — Feb. 25, 2020

Sterling E. Bailey, 95, of Eau Claire, died Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020, at Forest Glen Assisted Living in Dowagiac.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 29, at Bowerman Funeral Home, Eau Claire, where friends may visit beginning at 10 a.m. Burial will be in Caldwell Cemetery, Eau Claire. Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association. Online messages bowermanfuneral.com.

Sterling was born Sept. 6, 1924, in Keeler, Michigan, the son of Sterling R. and Eda (Zech) Bailey. He graduated from Dowagiac Union High School in 1944, and he married Beatrice (Stockwell) Bailey on Aug. 29, 1944. Sterling served his country with the Merchant Marines, and he owned and operated Bailey Asphalt Company in Eau Claire.

Survivors include three sons, Sterling E. (Martha) Bailey, Jr., Ronald L. (Joyce) Bailey and Rodney D. (Kathleen) Bailey; 10 grandchildren; 22 great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Beatrice, on Sept. 4, 2001; daughter, Alice Bailey Frank; one great-grandchild, Faith Eda Steinke; and his siblings: Clarence Bailey, Walter Bailey, Pauline Bailey Kurtz and Leonard Bailey.