Born during the Depression in rural Oklahoma, Shirley Bailes was a unique and intelligent woman who touched the lives of all who knew her. A shy child and avid reader when young, she became a basketball player and member of 4-H at Puyallup High School in Washington, graduating in 1949. Shirley was a young mother of three when she moved her family to Huntsville, Alabama.
There she met Ted Bailes, and they married on December 26, 1964. Together they managed the Bailes family laundry business, founded in the 1800s, renamed by Ted as Ultraclean Drycleaners. Their blended family welcomed a fourth child in 1966. Shirley was very family oriented, and community involved. Knowledgeable in Robert’s Rules of Order, she served as gavel holder for several civic organizations. She and Ted were active members of the Theosophical Society, sharing their intellectual interests and progressive philosophical worldviews with others across all backgrounds. Shirley was a poet, author, bread baker and needlework artist who loved lightning storms and reading books in the middle of the night.
Shirley first received her Real Estate License and later served in the role of corporate secretary for several CEO’s, including the Director of the University of North Carolina Hospital – Chapel Hill. Shirley and Ted moved to Dallas, Texas in 1982. She was an onscreen movie extra in the 1930’s period movie “Places in the Heart” which premiered in 1984. Shirley continued her college education, studying Psychology at Texas Women’s College, in Denton, T. She received advanced clinical training to become a Bioenergetic Therapist, specializing in the treatment of patients with childhood trauma. Throughout the rest of her life, Shirley used her wisdom and compassion as a Psychotherapist to help others, first in private practice helping abuse survivors, and later as an original member of one of the earliest internet therapy platforms, offering online counseling and support to anyone who requested it.
A gracious host, Shirley loved family gatherings and celebrations. She surrounded herself with beauty and spent her retirement on the white sand beaches of Gulf Shores, Alabama, collecting antique European porcelain and enjoying two beloved and pampered Shih Tzus.
Shirley and Ted were married for 57 years. Ted passed away peacefully on February 21, 2022.
Shirley is survived by her sister, Margaret; her sons and daughters-in-law, Brent and Susan Beam and Dayn and Diane Beam; her daughters, Tarin Majure and Darling Bailes-Bonjo and her husband, Michael Bonjo. She will be missed by her grandchildren, Bryn and Brian, Truett, Josh, and Cassady Rose, as well as her three great grandchildren, Sam, Ashford, and Hazel. Shirley had just celebrated her 88th birthday.
A family memorial will be held in the near future. Please contact dbonjo@gmail.com for details.
