Jeriann Bayley's Obituary
Jeriann Bayley left our world peacefully on March 30, 2026, to soar higher and happier than ever with the love of her life, Lee Bayley, who she met in second grade on the playground of Springdale Arkansas Elementary School.
Born on October 14, 1939, in Springdale to Corrine and Paul Jones, Jeriann matured from the fun-loving, cheerful 8-year-old who met her forever match that fateful day into a beautiful, joyful, gracious, intelligent and loving wife, mother and “G-mom”.
She was a true Southern Lady who could beat you on the tennis court or golf course during the day and treat you to an amazing dinner topped off by a homemade dessert in the evening. Friends and family were always hosted in style and abundance, with from-scratch recipes that most always included a stick of butter.
Jeriann exemplified the values of a Proverbs Woman and was always in motion doing something worthy for her family, friends, church and community.
She and Lee were married on August 1, 1959, in Springdale and remained partners in all things for the next 54 years during which Lee’s career in the military and then broadcasting would take them to five different cities and a foreign county: Fort Hood, El Paso, the Panama Canal Zone, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Los Angels, California, Irving, Texas…and then a delightful retirement in Holly Lake Ranch, East Texas.
In every new home, Jeriann established their roots by getting involved in the Methodist Church, volunteering for local non-profits, running the women’s golf association, and by just being a good neighbor.
Her quiet work included teaching many Sunday School classes, managing the finances for an orphanage in Tulsa and serving as the volunteer wedding coordinator for Canoga Park United Methodist Church. In Irving, her hard work to coordinate food bank distribution of the city churches through an “Interfaith” initiative earned her the City of Irving’s Volunteer of the Year Award.
Graduating at the top of her Springdale Arkansas High School Class with the “Most Likely to Succeed” distinction, Jeriann had the wisdom and skill to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. But once she and Lee had children, they became top priority even as the 1960’s women’s movement was bubbling up around the young couple.
Suzanne was born May 1, 1963, in the Panama Canal Zone. Jeriann demonstrated her strength and courage when she and her six-month-old had to hide in a native friend’s jungle home during the Panama Canal Zone riots. While Lee remained on the radio and television reporting on the crisis, he coordinated their evacuation with other military wives even as their cars were being burned and apartments being fired upon. Once the two were safely home, Jeriann’s experience and bravery were covered in a feature story in the Springdale Daily News.
Things were much calmer in their next home, Tulsa, where Stuart Lee Bayley was born on December 1, 1967. Lee had the top morning show in the City on KAKC, but Jeriann kept his ego and humility in check with a great sense of humor and patience. When the teenage girls flocked him for his autograph, she just rolled her eyes and smiled.
In an industry where most of his colleagues were on a second or third divorce, Lee was as proud and enchanted as ever by his amazing wife who instilled balance in their marriage with an Ozzie and Harriet kind of homelife (just add a lot of rock and roll playing on the stereo).
This stability and industriousness carried the family through over a decade in Los Angeles, where Lee was embroiled in the Hollywood life by day, but Jeriann kept strict discipline at home with dinner on the table by 6, church on Sunday and expertly planned family vacations and couple’s getaways throughout the year.
She was fun-loving, too, and always ready to pack up the station wagon and carry the kids and their friends through the canyons for a day at Zuma Beach. But she always had them back in time to welcome Lee home in the evening with dinner. There was no take out in this home, except a McDonald Happy Meal for the kids on Saturday Date nights.
Jeriann also maintained the family finances and scheduled plenty of time to keep their homes in tip top shape as the Master Gardener, interior and exterior painter, decorator and a whiz of seamstress who could whip out curtains just as easily as those matching outfits for Suzanne and Stuart when they were too little to rebel.
Nobody wanted to leave Los Angeles but Lee in 1980. Even so, the family packed up for Irving, Texas, and his next career step in broadcast programming. Jeriann as always created a new home and connected with some of the best set of friends yet at Plymouth Park United Methodist Church. The couple enjoyed their involvement which included Jeriann playing in the handbell choir.
Once the kids were in their teens, Jeriann felt a restlessness to return to the work force. She started as a secretary in a church office, then became the manager of the 12 Oaks Retirement Home and ultimately retired from the Boy Scouts of America Headquarters based in Las Colinas.
Lee and Jeriann’s final home together was Holly Lake Ranch, where days were filled with tennis and golf, travel to England, Canada and all over America, and of course, plenty of time for family and friends.
One of her most joyous roles was being “G-mom” to Connor Brian Lee Brooke and Brendan Mark Brooke. She and Lee took a hands-on roll in raising their precious grandsons in all ways including special G-son only trips like a cruise to Mexico, a train ride north to Kanasa City, or just long days of fishing, shooting guns, playing board games and riding bikes in Holly Lake Ranch.
Jeriann was equally devoted to her daughter in law, Stephanie Bayley, and son-in-law, Mark Brooke, and was able to spend a lot of time with her surviving sister, Jacque Solenberg, and nephew, Michael Solenberg, in her final home of Carrollton, Texas.
Jeriann will be deeply mourned and missed by her family and friends, but she will be remembered and honored for the extraordinary example she set as a Christian wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, friend…and just a darn good and beautiful soul.
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