In Memory

Larry Bayless

Larry Bayless

 

 

LARRY'S OBITUARY

Larry Lee Bayless, age 78, of Carroll, Iowa passed away February 3, 2021 at Thomas Rest Haven nursing home in Coon Rapids, Iowa.

A private funeral service will be held on Thursday, February 11, 2021 at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Carroll with Pastor Ryan Roehrig officiating.  Burial will be in the Carroll City Cemetery.

     A public visitation will be held at 5:00-7:00 P.M. on Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Carroll. The family requests that those in attendance abide by Covid-19 guidelines and wear facemasks. 

  In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be made to the Carroll Lions Club or New Hope Village.  Those who wish may send cards and memorials to: The family of Larry Bayless c/o Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home – 705 N. Carroll St.  Carroll, Iowa  51401.

     Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Carroll and online condolences may be left for Larry’s family at www.dahnandwoodhouse.com

A livestream of Larry’s service may be viewed by clicking on this link: https://youtu.be/By2DsUb2Qe0

 Larry was born February 13, 1942 in Carroll to Harold and Berniece (Atkins Bordner) Bayless. The family moved to Mason City around 1948. He grew up in Mason City and was active in sports, music, drama, church, the YMCA, and held many part-time jobs. He spent a lot of time in Clarinda as well, with close cousins and a great-aunt and great-uncle who helped raise him. Larry graduated from Mason City High School in 1960 and attended North Iowa Junior College and the University of Iowa. He obtained a bookkeeping degree from a business college and worked in some bookkeeping positions in Sioux City, where he graduated from Morningside College with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology/Social Work. In August 1969, he and Shirley Poohl, of Mason City, were married. They resided in Sioux City, where Shirley taught elementary school, and they later moved to Ida Grove for Larry’s job as a social worker for the State of Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS).

Their daughter was born in Ida Grove, and in 1978 the family moved to Carroll for Larry’s position with DHS. Their two sons were born in Carroll, and they remained in their house on the northwest edge of town for 41 years. Larry worked in various roles as a social worker for DHS, both locally and also covering large regions of western Iowa, until retiring from DHS in 2001. He was very active in the community, very present in his children’s lives, and very interested in helping people. He served others in numerous ways on many different levels, through community volunteering, lots of church involvement, and interpersonally. He was active in Lions Club, volunteered with New Hope Village, Meals on Wheels, nursing homes, services for the disabled, providing transportation for the elderly and those in need, and many charity dinners and events. He and Shirley were very involved with their church, St. Paul Lutheran, and also the wider church community, helping deliver assistance to newly arrived refugees and traveling for service projects and advocacy groups. He sang in the church choir, served as elder, usher, member of many committees, Sunday school teacher, and volunteered for numerous projects.

Larry continued working part-time for a few years after retirement at various jobs in the community. He and Shirley also traveled and spent time visiting their children, friends, and relatives around the country, going to music events, and visiting nature areas and gardens. In 2006 they traveled to Africa to visit their son who was living in Kenya. Larry was known as a very social person and loved talking to all kinds of people. He spent a lot of time at the Carroll Rec Center and in earlier days playing basketball on the driveway, as he coached all three of his children’s basketball teams. He loved the Iowa Hawkeyes and followed them in football and basketball and also followed the local high school sports, music programs, and community theatre. He and Shirley did a lot of walking around town and at Swan Lake, enjoyed many gatherings with neighbors, friends from card club, church, and other organizations, and often stopped in Glidden for lemon ice cream. Larry was musically gifted and loved all kinds of music, played piano, cornet, and had a beautiful singing voice. And he developed a deep religious faith over the years, dedicating lots of time to devotional reading, Bible study, and personal and community prayer and study. He and Shirley’s greatest desire was to pass their Christian faith on to their children and others.

During the final eight years of his life, Larry struggled increasingly with health and mobility issues due to a degenerative spinal condition and arthritis. He went through four surgeries, did lots of physical therapy and exercise classes, and remained as active as possible until his last year, especially with the help of some gifted caregivers. In late 2019 he moved to assisted living at Swan Place in Carroll and moved to Thomas Rest Haven in 2020 to recover from medical issues after hospitalization. He appreciated the environment and caring staff there, particularly throughout the difficulty of the Covid-19 isolation for nursing home residents. He died unexpectedly of natural causes with his family present.

He is survived by his three children: Suzanne Eckhardt (Marcus) of Iowa City, Benjamin Bayless of Houston, Texas, and Andrew Bayless (Ashley) of St. Louis, Missouri; three grandchildren: Joel, Judah, and Kaden; five sisters- and brothers-in-law, three nephews, three nieces, and many cousins. Larry was preceded in death by his wife, Shirley, in 2018; his parents, Harold and Berniece Bayless; his parents-in-law, Frank and Edith Poohl; a close great-aunt and great-uncle, Bill and Merl Anderson; and a cousin, Gary Bayless.